On Sunday 24th November a strong contingent of 55 Hayle runners braved the rain in Falmouth to take on the Falmouth Mob Match. This 5-mile road race – which takes in Pendennis headland, the seafront, and Swanpool – is the precursor to the annual presentation of trophies after another successful GP season.
In terms of the race itself, the green army put in an excellent performance with the Men’s team taking first place to retain the Mob Match trophy for another year! A huge well done to Sam Farmer, Jordan Morant, Neil Hayhurst, Jacob Gardner, Peter Barnes, Liam O’Neill, Bradley Medlock, Kieran Murrant, Dominic Turton, and Scott Abraham.
The Women’s team also performed brilliantly, coming in second place overall. A great effort by Kirsty Medlock, Fiona Gamble, Tear Rogers, Anna Goodman, Julie Towers, Andrea Simmons, Corinne Gerrard, Lia Foreman, Hannah Smith, and Zoe Renowden!
Lots of Hayle runners also brought home age category prizes, including:
Corinne Gerrard – 3rd – Women 50-54
Jennifer Buckland – 3rd – Women 55-59
Julie Towers – 1st – Women 60-64
Andrea Simmons – 1st – Women 70-74
Sam Farmer – 3rd – Men under 35 (Sam also took 3rd place in the race overall)
Liam O’Neill – 2nd – Men 35-39
Neil Hayhurst – 1st – Men 40-44
Mark Williams – 3rd – Men 55-59
Jon Eldon – 3rd – Men 60-64
Chunky Penhaul – 1st – Men 75-59
Stewart Townend – 1st – Men 80+
Having given out prizes for the race itself, attention then turned to the presentation of trophies for the overall GP series presentation.
Emma Paull did incredible work to come in as 1st woman overall across the series. This is the first time a Hayle runner has ever taken home an overall trophy, so a huge achievement
Stewart Townend – 1st – Men 80-84. Stuart also received a second trophy for being the oldest competitor in the GP
Chunky Penhaul – 1st – Men 75-79
Michael Orchard – 3rd – Men 65-69
Jon Eldon – 2nd – Men 60-64
Mark Williams – 1st – Men 55-59
Tim Twiggs – 3rd – Men 55-59
Ian Curnow – 1st – Men 50-54
Scott Abraham – 2nd – Men 50-54
Neil Hayhurst – 1st – Men 40-44
Liam O’Neill – 3rd – Men 35-39
Andrea Simmons – 1st – Women 65-69
Diane Warren – 2nd – Women 65-69
Julie Towers – 1st – Women 60-64
Louise Ollivier – 3rd – Women 55-59
Lucy Paull – 2nd – Women 40-44
Emma Paull – 1st – Women 35-39
Fiona Gamble – 2nd – Women 35-39
Anna Goodman – 3rd – Women under 35
Dominic Turton and Darren Uren also won awards for completing all 14 races in the series, and there were 39 runners who received trophies for running 8 or more races across the year!
“Once again our members acquitted themselves brilliantly this weekend with the mens team retaining the 1st place Mob Match trophy and our ladies team placing 2nd in a very competitive field of runners. The weather wasn’t exactly ideal, but that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.
Another year of dedicated training and coaching resulted in our club receiving a large number of awards for this year’s GP season, including Emma Paull receiving the firt place overall award for the ladies (the club’s first).
As one of Cornwall’s largest running clubs, we’ve seen lots of new runners give racing a go this year, and we’re very happy to see their efforts rewarded to such a high degree. We’re very much looking forward to what the 2025 season brings next year.”
Richard Collett
Club Chairman