Then the injuries began. I was first to crash and burn. Helen Thomas stepped in as substitute for me but with two weeks to go also had to pull out with knee trouble.
There was to be one final withdrawal, again with knee problems as Steve Hole had to throw in the towel with 2 days to go!

Thankfully, Graham Pugh and Kay Kershaw saved the day at the eleventh hour and the three relay teams plus solo runner, Steve Phillips were set for race day.

Race day dawned with sun and blue skies and Steve Phillips set off on his 44 mile solo quest at 0615.

The first runners of the relay teams, Mark Dorrell, Kay Kershaw and Richard Harvey were on their way an hour later at 0715.

Mark was on a mission as his team were out to win the race and try and break the course record set last year.

The first casualty occurred in that first section to Church Cove as an unfortunate runner suffered a broken ankle and had to be airlifted from the coast path.

Nineteen teams of 4 had set off and Mark was in the lead with our B team opening runner, Kay in second place. Richard made a steady start due to a severe lack of training and our third team were in a good position a few places further back.

Solo runner, Steve was going well and heading towards Penzance.

Back at Church Cove Mark was handing the lead over to Mark Wreford for the section to Perranuthnoe. Kay was still in second place and handed over to her team captain, Karen Harrison.

Carn teams were maintaining first and second places.
Richard ran a good leg and handed over to Pete Drew next to his beloved Mullion golf course.

Steve P was starting to feel the strain as he hit the seafront at Penzance having passed halfway looking quite fresh.

Chris Hodge was at Perranuthnoe revving his engines eagerly awaiting Wreefs’ arrival.
The exchange was made and the two Marks had built a significant lead over the rest of the teams. Hodgey sped off bound for Lamorna.

Karen held onto second place but the Navy team from 771 Squadron at Culdrose was closing in. She handed over to Graham Pugh who was to be hunted down by the Navy’s fast third leg runner.

Barry Drew was next to head off for Lamorna and as Pete handed over to him the sun really began to beat down on the runners.

Hodgey had set off too fast and the steep climb out of Mousehole had him in trouble and as he hit the coast path for his final two miles to Lamorna Cove he was feeling the heat.
Along the way he’d passed Steve who had now lost all feeling in his calfs and was now running on memory only.

A big Carn crew were waiting at Lamorna and cheered the final changeovers as last leg runners George Williams, Tim Rowe and Ceri Harvey, one by one, set off up the steep, rocky cliff path.

Steve took a break in the car park for fuel. A cold can of rice pudding, a banana and what looked like a vat of scumpy!!   George was long gone and his team had passed all but one of the solo runners who’d started an hour earlier.

At Lands End the binoculars picked out the speck of a Carn vest on the distant cliff.  It was George.  No other runners in sight and soon he was on the final approach to the finish in front of the Hotel.
The team had done it!  First team and the course record was broken!! Their finishing time of 6 hours 33 minutes 44 seconds smashed the record by 15 minutes!!

Meanwhile, back at Portcurno, Tim was in trouble after setting off too fast and having trouble keeping on course. He was still in third place but the fourth team runner was closing as Tim found himself up to his nuts in brambles and hopelessly off the main path.

He gritted his teeth, and found his way back to the path and still in front of his pursuer. His lower legs were ripped to shreds and looked like a couple of barbeque spare ribs! The gap was closing though but as he came into view of the finish he still had a good enough advantage.
Then he took a wrong turn and faced a longer route up to the finish! Things were going to be a bit closer, we held our breaths, but then the guy behind him also took the same turning. Phew!
Tim was a spent force as he headed over to the finish line but still held third place for the team by a good margin.

Nine miles back and Ceri had caught Steve.  He was walking and in a bad way.  His legs were shot. 

Ceri continued on her way, running strong despite the tortuous terrain. She made excellent progress down and out of Porthcurno and around the remaining headlands before finally Lands End came into sight.
A sea of Carn supporters lined the approach to the finish as Ceri stormed up to the line.

Our third team had come home in 7th position.

Our thoughts and prayers went out across those distant cliffs and headlands to Steve.  Was he still going?  Had his legs failed him?  Our last news of him was from Ceri and that painted a picture of a man close to destruction and struggling to make forwards progress at any speed.
Everyone was concerned as we strained through binoculars to the furthest points we could focus on. The odd ant-sized runner was silhouetted against the skyline but none turned out to be wearing a Carn yellow vest.

Finally, a speck of yellow raised a shout of hope. The dot moved closer across the light brown scar of a path, knifed into the green headland yonder. All eyes were straining. It was a Carn vest. It was Steve!  He had made it!!!

His legs allowed him a victorious finish as he smiled for the cheering crowds. He reached the line and ‘dib-ed in’ to stop the clock.  44 miles, 10 hours 37 minutes 39 seconds. Steve finished in 30th place out of the 78 runners that would complete the course. 19 of the 97 starters failed to finish!
Truly Awesome, mate!!!  We salute you.

A fantastic club day out.  Great club spirit and performances by all of our runners that must rank among the finest in the club’s history.
It was an honour to have been there and witnessed it. I forgot about being injured and the pleasure, pain and achievements of our runners was an uplifting experience.

Respect!!!

Results: 

Solo. (44 miles) 

30th  Steve Phillips  10 hrs 37 minutes 39 seconds.

Relay Teams (10/11/11/12 miles. 44 miles).

1st.  Hodgey’s Hogs      6 hrs 33 mins 44 secs.
3rd   Kaz’s Kool Kats   7 hrs 45 mins 15 secs. (2nd Mixed Team)
7th   Ceri’s Coasters      8 hrs 40 mins 30 secs..

Loads of Photos to come. Full results in Race Results section.