Hayle Runners excel at Indian Queens despite soaring temperatures

Hayle Runners excelled at the Indian Queens Half Marathon on Sunday, claiming the ladies’ team title, first and second place in the men’s team competition and 10 age-category awards despite scorching temperatures in the tenth race of the 2026 Cornwall Grand Prix series.

Sixty-two members of the Green Army lined up for the popular half marathon, which starts with a rapid downhill opening before heading onto the Goss Moor Trail. From there, runners face a steady climb towards Rosedown Kennels before returning to Indian Queens via the nature reserve. While the route is regarded as one of Cornwall’s quicker half marathons, the intense summer heat turned it into a very different challenge.

The Indian Queens Half Marathon is often a race where runners target personal bests after months of training, thanks to its relatively fast course. However, soaring temperatures transformed this year’s event into a battle of endurance, with many competitors forced to abandon hopes of quick times and simply dig deep to reach the finish.

Despite the conditions, Hayle’s ladies produced another outstanding performance to claim first place. Lucy Paull led the team home, joined by Fiona O’Neill, Tamara Kearney, Teigan Turner, Andrea Simmons and Amy Greef.

The Hayle men underlined the club’s exceptional strength in depth by claiming both first and second place in the team competition. The winning team comprised Sam Farmer, Liam Rowe, Edmund Bennett, Kyle Hampton, Peter Barnes and Ross Rielly, while Neil Hayhurst, Amar Musneckis, Daniel Millington, Elliott Holmes, Lee Standen and Steven Wherry combined to secure second place.

There was further success in the age categories, with Hayle Runners collecting 10 awards. Tamara Kearney claimed bronze in the Female Under 35 category, Julie Towers won the Female 60-64 title and Andrea Simmons continued her remarkable season with victory in the Female 70-74 category.

For the men, Sam Farmer secured bronze in the Under 35 category, Liam Rowe finished second and Ross Rielly third in the 35-39 age group, Edmund Bennett claimed silver in the 45-49 category, Steven Wherry won the 60-64 title, Jon Eldon topped the 65-69 category and Chunky Penhaul finished second in the 75-79 age group.

There were several other standout performances. Kyle Hampton enjoyed an excellent debut in a Hayle vest by finishing inside the overall top 20 and helping the club’s first men’s team to victory. Scott Redrup completed his first half marathon in green, while Sue Powell and Charlotte Main also made their Hayle Runners debuts. Personal bests were particularly hard-earned in the conditions. Andrew James produced an outstanding eight-minute half marathon personal best, while Tamara Kearney took an incredible 16 minutes off her previous best. Sam Robinson and David Guffick also recorded half marathon personal bests, while Yvonne Watkins, Andrew Searle, Lucy Paull and Andrew Heather all set course personal bests. Sam Kearney rounded off the improvements by taking 11 minutes off her previous best around the Indian Queens course.

“Indian Queens is usually a race where people turn up hoping for a personal best. This year, by about halfway, most runners had accepted that the wheels had well and truly fallen off the bus and the goal had become simply getting to the finish.

“That makes the results even more impressive. To win the ladies’ team competition, finish first and second in the men’s team event and still see so many personal bests despite the conditions says a lot about the strength of the club.”

Richard Collett
Club Chairman

Hayle Runners would like to thank the local organising team, the marshals, volunteers and the many local running clubs whose support helped stage another successful Indian Queens Half Marathon. Special thanks also go to Emma Taylor who, despite breaking her ankle at parkrun the previous day, still came along in a cast to cheer on her clubmates and capture photographs from the course.