An Res...stunning Spring day!

The 5th race in the Cornish Grand Prix series - An Res - stunning race, stunning weather, stunning support! Clear blue sunny skies shone down on a pleasant mixture of trail, tarmac and short section of beach, however a gusty easterly wind made it's presence felt along some parts of the route. Starting near the boating lake in Helston, runners follow the same trail as the weekly Saturday morning park run, before continuing on the trail down to the coast path just above Loe Bar. At this point, we were greeted by Cornish scenery at its best, brilliant blue skies and incredible blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the gusty wind whipping the surface waters into a chaotic series of white horses. A steep descent leads down to the sandy Loe Bar, where the full force of the gusty wind was felt, making progress through the combined soft sand and wind quite difficult. After the beach, runners then start a long two-stage climb, initially on trail then road, up to the main road at Culdrose. This section of climbing, although never particularly steep, is long and running into the gusty headwind made for strenuous progress. Once up at the main road, runners turn sharply west along a path next to the main road, all the way back to Helston. Although the surroundings are unattractive, the gusty tailwind made this section extremely fast, followed by a steep downhill back to the finish at the boating lake. All in all, a fantastic event and great that the boys from Falmouth Road Runners pulled through to win 3rd team prize amongst tough competition!