Rachel Bowker, with medal, London Marathon 2010

Hayle Runners are enthusiastic and dedicated racers. Many say they’d never race, but once bitten by the bug it’s hard to stop. Racing gives you a goal to aim for and helps you measure your progress.

  Grand Prix

This is a series of 15 races held throughout the calendar year across Cornwall. Distances range from 4 miles to full marathons. Competitors score points which count towards both their individual totals at the end of the year and that of their Club. If you complete 8 of the 15 races (two of which must be at least 10 miles) you qualify for a GP prize at the end of the season.

 Marazion 10k (formerly Mounts Bay 10k)

The Cornish running clubs take it in turns to organise the GP races and this is ours. It takes place each year on the first Sunday in February, starting and finishing at Marazion. Volunteers are needed for all aspects, including catering, marshalling and traffic control. Two or three months beforehand we ask members to volunteer their family, friends and neighbours to help out. Please see the Marazion 10k pages for more details.

Summer 5k race series
This is a new series of five races which are due to be held on mid week evenings this summer, from May to September. We and four other Cornish running clubs will take it in turns to organise one each. Ours is likely to be a beach race, starting and finishing near Gwithian car park.

Malcolm Date Trophy

Our annual handicap race is run over the same course as the Marazion 10k. It’s held at the end of the season and is only open to Hayle members who’ve competed in a 10k race in the last three years. Personal best times are used to calculate starting times. For example if Runner A’s best 10k time in the last 3 years has been 40 minutes and Runner B’s time 1 hour, then Runner B starts 20 minutes ahead of Runner A. In theory everyone should cross the finishing line at the same time. It means anyone can win – even the Club’s slowest runner. It’s fiercely contested and someone surprising always wins.

Craig Tonkin (left) and Glenn Fraser, marking 25 consecutive GP races at the Treggy 7, 2007

 
Marathons

 

Marathons and half marathons are a particular speciality of Hayle Runners. Last year (2010) we had 40 members completing spring marathons. We field strong teams in both half and full marathons and often win the team competitions in our local marathons, the Duchy, Cornish and Eden (a non GP race which takes place in October).

We offer marathon training programmes for all abilities and we promise that you never have to train alone. Members from our walk and run group have trained hard and completed marathons.

The Club’s nominated charity is CHUF (the Cornish Heart Unit Fund) and each year we secure eight or nine places in the London Marathon to raise funds on its behalf. Our members also regularly run other marathons including Edinburgh, Stratford, Paris, New York and Chicago.

 Other races

Hayle Runners also take part in many other races, both in Cornwall and further afield. A minibus of Hayle Runners took on the Windsor Half Marathon in autumn 2010. It was a wild success so we’ll do it again for the Cardiff Half (October 2011).

 Race entry

Unique to Hayle, the Club can enter you in any Cornish Grand Prix race and in other selected non GP races too. Just email Club President Andy Moore andymoore58@tiscali.co.uk. Then turn up at the race at least an hour beforehand, pay Andy, collect your number and pins from him, and all you have to do then is run.

Please note that you are required to race in a Hayle Runners’ club vest. In other races where Andy is not doing a club entry, usually non GP races, you’ll need to complete your own application.