Two major events this weekend with very different weather conditions.

The 2023 RAT ( Roseland August Trail ) Trail & Ultra Running Festival

The 2023 RAT ( Roseland August Trail ) Trail & Ultra Running Festival took place on Saturday the 5th August, just as storm Antoni was battering the coast line . The races were of varying lengths and all off road coastal path runs along a stretch of the stunning South Cornwall Coastal Path between St Anthony Head on the Roseland Peninsula and Porthpean in St Austell Bay.

East Cornwall Harriers had 5 runners competing in two of the events. Mud crew website described the 5 events on its website as :-

• Plague – an approx. 64mile (100k) route starting at the event village with an out and back course starting just after midnight and involving several hours of night running.
• Black – an approx. 32mile point to point course starting at St Anthony Head.
• Red – an approx. 20mile point to point course starting at Portloe.
• White – an approx. 11mile point to point course starting at Gorran Haven.
• Bring Out Your Dead – 24hour continuous footrace on an approx. 5mile section of coastpath (there is a separate event guide detailing this event)

Competitors running the Plague start their adventure from the event village at Porthpean

Competitors running the Black, Red and White events were bussed from the festival village at Porthpean to the appropriate start.

East Cornwall Harriers braved the horrendous weather and produced some amazing results

Black RAT – Hayley Stacey finished 42nd overall in 7.03.35 (10th female, 2nd in age)

Black Rat – Sharon Daw finished 53rd in 7.18.34 (13th Female)

Red Rat – Doug Stacey finished an amazing 3rd overall in 2.53.41

Red Rat – Hannah Matthews finished 25th in 3.42.52 (4th female)

Red Rat – Meeta Nicholls finished 44th in 4.11.30 (12th Female)

Indian Queens Half Marathon – Cornish Grand Prix

This was the 41st staging of the event which is organised by local volunteers with support from PB Running. This is race 10 of the Cornwall Grand Prix competition, although it was open to all runners.
All monies raised are divided between local groups and charities.

The race started on Moorland Road by the cemetery and it was a fast start downhill section which lulled you in to a false sense of security. If you were anything like me you got swept along with the crowd and looked at your watch after one mile and thought, “that’s too quick”. The road section of the race continued around and back uphill towards the entrance on to Goss Moor.

There were good crowds along the route, which covered long pathways, full of potholes and muddy patches which could easily be avoided. Water stations along the route were welcome breaks although the weather was kind, warm but with plenty of cloud cover and a nice breeze (A bit different to the heat of last year).

After leaving the trails at about 5 miles the road twisted until you came to the hill which seemed to last an age. The turning point at the top of the hill was a welcome landmark and the thought of a nice downhill was dampened by the fact that the light wind was actually quite strong and was now blowing in to your face.

retracing your steps back along the trail and acknowledging fellow competitors was a personal battle, often as much mental as well as physical. Then you were back to the road which seemed to go on forever until the downhill turn to the working men’s club finish.

A large number of Harriers took place and results can be found on the link below.

Results (cornwallrunning.co.uk)

Its safe to say not everyone enjoyed the experience but for me (Ian Savigar) it was a personal triumph finishing third in my age group and rather unusually being the only Harrier to claim a prize.

Andrew Simms took some great photos on the day and a few are reproduced below