Bank holiday weekend saw pioneers lacing up and running, with many of them currently enduring their marathon training, with several pioneers taking part in the London marathon both virtual and in person, as well as the Manchester marathon, which are both due to take place within the next few weeks. For many the Bank holiday weekend was a great weekend for training, whereas others saw the weekend as an opportunity to compete. 

Louisa Chisholm, Rob Kernaghan and Sandra Haynes 
took part in the Pentewan Valley 10 K Trail. This mostly flat, and beautiful run, which is supporting Anthony Nolan Charity, during the day a staggering £1216.73 was raised for Anthony Nolan Charity.  The route started on the cycle path in Pentewan and takes runners towards Tregorrick, where the athletes then turn around and return back towards Pentewan.
Louisa finished third female in her age group completing the route in 50:11:00
Sandra completed the route in 59:15:00.
Rob Kernaghan came back first for the Pioneers and finished the route in 50:00

Last weekend saw the annual Roseland August Trail Series, more commonly known as the RAT. There are 4 different length routes, starting with white at 11 miles, red being 20 miles, black being 32 miles and finally the Plague being 64 miles. Regardless of the distance, each is a highly challenging experience, taking place on the South Cornwall Coastal Path, over undulating paths, through villages and countryside. Each of the routes follow the same part of the coastal path, with the 4 different routes joining and leaving at various locations. 

Emma Langstaff and Sally Crabb, took on the Plague route, covering 64 miles. The run starts at midnight, and involves several hours of night running. Starting at Pentewan Valley, near St Austell, and takes the athletes on to the Coastal path, running past Ropehaven Cliff Nature Reserves. Then athletes get to enjoy running down hill to Pentewan and on to Mevagissy. From here athletes run along to Gorran Haven, reaching the 18th mile and one of the highest points of the race. From the 36th mile, runners are given a slightly easier and less hilly terrain, at St Anthony Head, athletes turn to complete the same route back to the start point. Starting on the slightly easier terrain until the 63rd mile, when the hills kick in, From here the terrain becomes much harder and involves steep hills and major descents. 

Emma Langstaff completed the route in a staggering 14:48:20. Emma was the first female back, and collected her trophy at the end of the day.
Sally Crabb finished the route in 15:49:42

Several Looe Pioneers took on the Black RAT, a 32 mile route, starting at a slightly more reasonable 8:30 in the morning. With this run starting at St Anthony and completing the same final 32 miles of the plague route. For these runners, they get the slightly easier  terrain for a few miles, however nearing the middle of route, the terrain becomes much more intense for the athletes.
Jo robinson came back first for the Pioneers with a time of 6:12:39

Nikki Williams, who has been training incredibly hard and this was her first entry to the RAT, completed the route in 7:34:14. With Cheryl Broas,
Alison Catnach and Dale Staff all competing in a time of 7:48:12. Nick Pope injured his back during the run but still finished in a time of 8:35:09 with Andy Crabb completing the route in 9:41:40.

Last weekend saw the return of two major runs - Indian Queens half marathon, a firm favourite in the Cornish running calendar and London Landmarks Half Marathon, a epic 13.1 mile route taking in some of the best landmarks the capital has to offer. 

Indian Queens took place on a hot day, the route considered a flat and fast one, to complete a half marathon. This 13.1 route is a multi terrain route, with amazing scenery. Over the course of the route, there is a gained elevation of 1100ft. The route consists of 2 one way loops, with a middle section being both ways for the athletes. The athletes start and finish at Indian Queens, run towards the Owl Sanctuary, from here the athletes run towards the Pony Centre, where the runners enter the middle section, where they will double back on later during this race. From here athletes head towards Black Cross, then Killaworgey. From this point athletes enter the second and larger of the two loops, taking in Tregoose, Tregaswith and Trekenning. Then returning to the middle section of the route, crossing over the railway line and finishing at Indian Queens.
Clive Finnimore completed the route in 1:36:45, who completed the route 36th out of 225 runners. Darren Hardwick came 9th in his age group and finished in 2:02:02 (1:42:02). With Louisa Chisholm, who finished 2nd in her age group and completed the route in 2:08:00.

Julie Gregory was the only Pioneer who took part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon, this year. This is a truly amazing route, taking the athletes through the capital and having an opportunity to see some of the most iconic elements of the city. Whilst running the athletes need exceptional mental strength to prevent themselves getting distracted from the buildings and history of the capital. The athletes start at Nelson's Column, where they run upto the amazing Covent garden, cross over the river and instantly return to Covent garden. Looping around somerset house and then moving on the Blackfriars for their third mile.  From here they go to St Paul's Cathedral, and loop back to Somerset house and on to the Royal Court of Justice. For mile 6 and 7, athletes run back to St Pauls' Cathedral and head out to Bank of England and on to Monument. Athletes then zigzag between Bank and Mansion House underground stations, before heading up to Bank underground, and the tower of London. At this point the athletes get to the 10 mile mark. From here, this is the longest straight line along the River Thames all the way back to Westminster, looping back to Embankment and finally finishing the race at Downing Street. 
Julie Gregory completed this route in a highly impressive 2:41:12

Last Friday saw the return of one of the season's favourite short distance races. The Ivybridge Relay is a firm favourite with many pioneers, having had the event cancelled previously due to Covid-19 lockdowns. This year saw 4 teams, each with 4 people taking part in the relay race. Each runner takes a 2.5 miles route, before the next runner takes to the road. This year saw nearly 100 teams take part in the race. The route is a relatively simple one, taking the runners from North Filham, running along Godwell Lane, then taking the road over the Devon Expressway. From here the athletes run along the country lanes, just before the second mile mark the athletes run back over the Devon Expressway and return to North Filham. 

In Team A was Clive Finnimore, Mark and his brother Andy Deacon with Max Evans. Team B consists of Martin Gregory, Louise Chisholm, Carol Beaver and Emma Collins. Team C was Kirsty Webb, Darren Hardwick, Debbie Jones and Darren Hardwick running again for the team. Team D had Linda Cuff, Angela Harrison, Jay Wagstaff and Julie Gregory. 

For many of the athletes who took part in Friday's relay, they donned on their running shoes once more and ran the Tywardreath Trotter 7 mile multi terrain route the following day. With nearly 270 athletes taking part in this race, the Looe Pioneers came out in force to show support for this local run.

The route takes the athletes from Tywardreath in the woods towards St Blazey. From here the route, passing the 3 mile mark, takes the athletes uphill to the highest point of the race, then looping around to Treesmill. Crossing the start point at a right angle, returning to running in the woods and returning to Treesmill, athletes here cross over the railway line. Providing one final loop and finishing the race on the road at Tywardreath. 

Mark Deacon came back first for the pioneers, completing the route in 47:09. Dale Staff returned next in 49:55. Jo Robinson was the first female back with a time of 51:08. Clive Finnimore finished 53:17, followed by Emma Langstaff with a time of 57:15. Alison Catnach came in just under the one hour mark, with a time of 57:39. Grahame Mace finished in 1:04:24, with Darren Hardwick just behind him with a time of 1:05:20. Martin Gregory completed the route in 1:09:32 and Louisa Chisholm came in seconds later with a time of 1:09:48. Kirsty Webb finished the route in 1:14:22, followed by Julie Gregory with a time of 1:32:35 and Jay Wagstaff 1:35:17. 

Last weekend also saw the return of Parkruns, which take places all over the country, are free to enter and are 5K in length. Due to Covid restrictions athletes haven't been able to take part in these runs since March 2020, bringing them back is a significant change for athletes all over the country. To celebrate the return of 
parkruns, Rob Kernaghan opted to run at Mount Edgecombe. Mark Deacon completed the Tamar Trails route, and though this is not a competitive race, he came in third with an impressive run of 19:35. Kathy Saunders and Mark Camp decided to do the Lanhydrock route, a tough hilly route.