Hayle Runners take men’s team gold at Tywardreath Trotter

The Green Army did not hang about at the start line of the new season. Eighteen Hayle Runners lined up for the opening race of the 2026/27 Cornwall Multi Terrain Race Series and came away with men’s team gold, setting the tone for the campaign ahead.

A village celebration on the trails

The 20th running of the Tywardreath Trotter took place on Saturday, July 25th, with runners tackling roughly 6.8 miles of multi-terrain around the countryside surrounding Tywardreath. Organised by local volunteers, the course combines woodland trails, fields, country lanes and a few testing climbs, and it has long been a popular way to open the MTRS calendar.

Neil Hayhurst leads the men home

Hayle’s men produced the standout team result of the day. Neil Hayhurst led the scoring quartet across the line ahead of Andrew James, Jon Eldon and Mark Williams, and that combined effort was enough for first place.

Neil also finished inside the overall top 10 and took second in the competitive Male 45-49 age category.

Four age-category prizes

The club collected four age-category awards in total. Florence Davies-Kirsop was first Hayle lady home, finishing fifth female overall and winning the Female Under 35 category. Mark Williams won the Male 55-59 category and Jon Eldon topped the Male 65-69 category.

Several runners also knocked chunks off their previous times around the course. Sam Robinson produced the biggest improvement of the lot, taking 16 minutes off her previous best, while Andrew James lowered his own mark by a further six minutes. Melissa Tonkin and Jon Eldon recorded course personal bests too.

“A real village celebration feel”

Hayle Runners chairman Richard Collett said the event is one the whole area gets behind.

“The Tywardreath Trotter has a real village celebration feel to it. It’s one of those races where the whole community gets behind the event, and that’s a big part of what makes it such a great way to start the new MTRS season.

“To start the series with a men’s team victory and four age-category awards was an excellent result. It was also great to see Florence finish fifth lady overall, and the number of course PBs shows plenty of runners have put in some strong work since last season.”

The club thanked the local organising team, marshals, volunteers and supporters for staging another Tywardreath Trotter.

Hayle Runners results