Road Running in Cornwall

Road running in Cornwall is in a very healthy state.

The success of the county’s road running is based on the Cornwall Grand Prix Series, which comprises fifteen races, with awards presented to runners who compete in eight of these races during the same calendar year. Prizes are also presented to the top ten overall finishers, the winning teams and the leading runners in all the Veteran categories. Many runners - ladies and men - compete in at least one Grand Prix race with several progressing to compete in the award qualifying minimum of eight races.  Race distances range for four miles to the marathon. In 2008 the Grand Prix introduced a new category for the Under 20’s, intending to attract younger runners to the Grand Prix.

On the back of this success, many other organisations have organised their own road races or, in some cases off road races, which also attract runners of all ages and abilities. In the summer there will almost always be at least one race happening somewhere in the county. Many of these organisations seek the advice and benefit from the experience of one of the county’s road running clubs.

The club structure for road running in Cornwall is also very strong and the clubs meet four times a year to discuss a range of road running issues, review races and organise county teams to compete in Inter County competitions such as the Peninsular Challenge against Devon and the South West Inter Counties Championship. All of the clubs have very informative websites, with up to date information and photographs.

There has been a significant increase in the number of qualified coaches attached to the road runnning clubs many of whom have gained the Leadership in Running and Fitness qualification.

Alan Rowling is our County representative and can be contacted here.