Hayle Runners headed north on Sunday, September 20, for the Bude Pirate Run, returning with men’s team victory, second place overall for Liam O’Neill and six age-category awards.
Fifteen members of the Green Army, eight ladies and seven men, tackled the third race of the 2026/27 Cornwall Multi Terrain Race Series. Organised by Bude RATs Run and Tri, the aptly described “8ish-mile” course starts and finishes at Crooklets and packs around 1,200ft of climbing into a mixture of coast path, fields, woodland and short road sections.
With big hills, rugged trails and the added hazard of rabbit holes to negotiate, the course provided a proper test of multi-terrain running.
Liam O’Neill produced an excellent performance to finish second overall in 57:06, leading Hayle’s men to a closely fought team victory over Truro Running Club. Neil Hayhurst, Andrew James and Jon Eldon completed the winning quartet.
The club also collected six age-category awards. O’Neill won the Male 35-39 category, while Hayhurst and James took second and third respectively in the Male 45-49s. Mark Williams claimed third in the Male 55-59 category, Eldon won the Male 65-69s and Deborah Sturges finished second in the Female 65-69 category.
There were some remarkable improvements further through the field. Susan Thomas took an extraordinary 32 minutes off her previous course time, while Andrew James continued his run of course PBs by improving by another 13 minutes.
“Anything advertised as ‘8ish miles’ with more than 1,200ft of climbing and rabbit holes to avoid sounds like the sort of race where not knowing the exact distance is probably the least of your concerns.
“Liam produced a superb run to finish second overall and the men’s team had a great battle with Truro for the win. Six age-category awards made it another strong day for the club, while taking 32 minutes off a course like this, as Susan managed, is a fairly remarkable achievement.”
Richard Collett
Club Chairman
Hayle Runners would like to thank Bude RATs Run and Tri, along with the marshals and volunteers who helped stage another memorable Bude Pirate Run.
Hayle Runners full results
Jon Eldon – 1:05:30
Debbie Gossington – 1:43:39
Neil Hayhurst – 1:02:16
Olivia Henwood – 2:00:46
Frazer Humbles – 1:15:17
Andrew James – 1:05:14
Liam O’Neill – 57:06
Yelda Müge Parsons – 2:07:05
Andrew Searle – 1:13:37
Helen Squire – 1:54:04
Claire Stone – 2:07:05
Deborah Sturges – 2:00:54
Susan Thomas – 1:37:41
Hannah White – 1:50:00
Mark Williams – 1:06:50