​Cornwall at the Celtic Trail Championships
At the same time Jo Robinson and Sally Crabb were competing in the Interceltic Trail Running Championships, representing Cornwall. They travelled to Brittany for the 17 mile event with Jo finishing 28th and Sally 69th in a field of near 100 runners. A huge honour for the Pioneers.
Plymouth Half Marathon

​The Pioneers have been at it again – not in huge clumps at one race but in swarms across a range of venues including Saltash, Newquay, Ivybridge, Leeds and North Wales. 

​Friday 7th July, 4 Looe Pioneer teams (each consisting of 4 runners) took part in the Ivybridge relays with 4 x legs of 2.5 miles. Again some excellent runs and Looe very well represented with lots of noisy Pioneers. 

​On Wednesday 5th July over 20 athletes attended the 'turkey trot' near Redruth and achieved some valuable points for what already is  a record breaking points tally in the Cornish Grand Prix series still with a number of races to go. All pioneers completed the 4 mile circuit in good times, many setting PB's on this short and fast course in very hot weather !

57 Pioneers took part in this 5 mile course and Looe was the 4th biggest club represented at this popular annual event which is an amazing achievement. All athletes completed the course with quite a lot of new members running competitively for the first time. To see the whole squad over the finish line was a great achievement and some of the athletes who only started on the couch to 5k programme in the new year powered home beating many personal bests. Two years ago, only 1 Looe pioneer represented the town at this event, last year there 29 and with this years 57, we are hoping to continue the trend upwards for 2018 !

​Dartmoor Discovery on June 3rd.   Emma Langstaff and Sally Crabb represented the club/town at this ultra-marathon event around Dartmoor. The race is entirely on road and starts in Princetown, follows a route passing through Dartmeet, Poundsgate, Newbridge, Ashburton, Buckland in the Moor, Widecombe in the Moor and Postbridge before making its way back to finish in Princetown. The current distance is 52.115 km (32 miles 674 yards). Emma finished in 5:16:10 and Sally 5:33:54. A fantastic achieve by the Looe ladies!

A large number of the club members took part in the Plymouth half marathon on Sunday 23rd April with many of the athletes achieving personal bests over this distance and finishing in excellent times. Mark Deacon completed the course in 1:26:50s and came 38th overall from a field of approximately 2800 runners and Jo Robinson also continued her superb form which keeps her high in the rankings of the top female athletes in Cornwall. A huge well done goes to Kirsty Webb also who achieved an excellent time only a short while after completing the Brighton Marathon a few weeks ago. 

​Looe Pioneers were well represented at the Virgin London Marathon with Laura Rosser, Joe Arkley, Kelly Prutton, Peter Heywood and Victoria Thomas all with superb runs over this famous course.

Philippides, Mandy Gibson led home the team with Laura Arkley just 15 minutes behind after jettisoning her husband who finished in 4 hours and 28 minutes. Philippides and Kirsty Webb crossed the line together, after mutual support through the torrid heat, to bring all the Pioneers home.

Mandy Gibson 3.58.31  (379th woman out of 8110)
Laura Arkley 4.12.25
Joe Arkley 4.28.45
Phillippides Shepley 4.39.48
Kirsty Webb 4.41.52
​

In Paris, Jordan Garaghon, Pioneers marathon record holder, couldn’t quite eclipse his previous record; sun stroke and near broken legs did not prevent him from reaching the Arc de Triomphe in an impressive 3 hours and 26 minutes.  
Jordan was running for Macmillan Cancer Support https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jordan-Garaghon4​

​Pioneers run in the sun!!
A handful of Looe Pioneers braved the hills of Falmouth for its annual half marathon on Sunday. After a chilly start the sun came out and shone on the pioneers as they made their way round the picturesque course beginning near Pendennis Castle before heading west towards the Helford river and turning back to finish along the promenade of this lovely Cornish coastal town. A gentle northeasterly breeze was appreciated by all as the temperature rose sufficiently to result in a few pink faces! ​

Mark Deacon led the way with a superfast time of 1.27 finishing 26th out of a total 576 runners.
The remaining twelve runners completed the bakers dozen as follows with many personal bests achieved;  
Chris Pawley          1.46
Mandy Gibson       1.49
Mark Grassam       1.50
Phil Gibson             1.56
Ali Catnach             1.57
Kirsty Webb            1.59
John Bowden          2.03
Peter Heywood      2.07
Kirstie Maywood   2.08
Emma Clark            2.10
Pete Catnach          2.17
Geraldine Bowden 2.21

Looe Pioneers resident superstar, Jordan Garaghon, made the long trip to Gloucestershire on Sunday to compete in his first marathon. In what was a stella debut performance, he completed the 26.2 miles in a superb time of 3hrs 23 mins, finishing in 21st place overall.
​Garaghon now holds the Pioneers current marathon time record.

30 Looe Pioneers descended on Newquay for the ever-popular Newquay 10k, Race 2 of the Cornwall Glass and Glazing Cornish Grand Prix Series. In excellent running conditions, many Pioneers recorded personal best times, yet another indication of the meteoric rise of the club over the last 18 months. Special mention must go to 'Mr Consistent', John Gossam on yet another 3rd placed finish in his age catagory. 

If the Half wasn't tough enough Sally Crabb and Emma Langstaff took on the full marathon not only finishing it but amazing coming 2nd and 3rd in their category. 

Another Impressive turn out by the Looe Pioneers, organised by the Eden Project in partnership with St Austell Running Club.
12 highly tuned athletes embarked on the Eden Project half marathon, a Challenging multi-terrain race with many tough hills (not as quite hilly Looe 10 miler) through local countryside and farm lanes taking in the clay pits finishing with a downhill descent into the Eden Project past world-famous Biomes.

Looe Pioneers sent Kirsty Webb & Emma Clarke across the border for Exeter's Great West Run.
13.1 miles lap through Exeter city centre.

Looe Pioneers showed once again that the club is on the rise by taking a 35-strong team to the Newquay 10k, the 6th largest team entry on the day.  Some very strong results were recorded and a plethora of Personal Bests achieved, most notably John Gossan and Cheryl Broas, with both finishing 2nd in their respective age classes

​Five Looe Pioneers enjoyed the hospitality and impressive organisation offered by Truro's half marathon. A challenging course with plenty of ascents and some tricky woodland gravel desceets brought out the best in all the team. After giving a rousing Henry V like sppech during midweek Mark Deacon picked himself up, Lazarus like, from his injury bed to finish as first Pioneer in a time of 1.40.01. Peter Heywood finsihed near the top of his class with 2.03.15 whilst Ali Catnach was quite irate having hammered Mark in the Treggy 7, but settled for her 2.04.33. Bryan Maywood and Pete Catnach had a glorious battle throughout the half-marathon but Bryan won out in the end because of his sure-footedness on the gravelly descents - Pete was less confident. A super run and Pioneers now look forward to a big team turnout at the Newquay 10k on October 2nd.

Truro half results
Pos     Time       Name                                    min/mile
91       1:40:01  DEACON, Mark                    07:38.0
323     2:03:15  HEYWOOD, Peter               09:24.3
336     2:04:33  CATNACH, Alison                09:30.3
425     2:15:04  MAYWOOD, Bryan              10:18.5
438     2:16:47  CATNACH, Peter                 10:26.3

Looe Pioneers despatched a squadron of our finest runners to compete in Ivybridge for the Erme Valley Relays hosted by Erme Valley Harriers.

Incredible effort by all, and a big thank you to John Duffy for stepping into the breach last minute.
Not all heroes wear capes

On a sunny sunday Alison Catnach, Pete Catnach, David Doherty & Steve Skinner headed for Painton for the 25th Torbay Half Marathon hosted by Torbay Athletic Club.