Hayle Runners beat the hills and rabbit holes at Bude Pirate Run

The organisers describe it as “8ish miles”. With around 1,200ft of climbing and rabbit holes lurking on the trail, the exact distance was never going to be the hardest part of the day.

And Hayle Runners made the trip north count. The club came back from the Bude Pirate Run last Sunday (20 September) with the men’s team victory, a second-place overall finish and six age-category awards.

A proper multi-terrain test at Crooklets

Fifteen members of the club’s Green Army, eight women and seven men, lined up for the third race of the 2026/27 Cornwall Multi Terrain Race Series.

Organised by Bude RATs Run and Tri, the course starts and finishes at Crooklets. In between it packs in coast path, fields, woodland and short sections of road.

Big hills, rugged trails and the odd rabbit hole made it a real test of multi-terrain running.

Liam O’Neill second overall

Liam O’Neill produced an excellent run to finish second overall in 57:06.

His result led Hayle’s men to a closely fought team win over Truro Running Club. Neil Hayhurst, Andrew James and Jon Eldon completed the winning quartet.

Six age-category awards

Liam won the Male 35-39 category. Neil and Andrew took second and third in the Male 45-49s.

Mark Williams claimed third in the Male 55-59 category, Jon won the Male 65-69s and Deborah Sturges finished second in the Female 65-69 category.

Half an hour gone in one go

Some of the biggest stories came further back in the field.

Susan Thomas took an extraordinary 32 minutes off her previous time on the course. Andrew continued his run of course PBs, improving by another 13 minutes.

Hayle Runners chairman Richard Collett said: “Anything advertised as ‘8ish miles’ with more than 1,200ft of climbing and rabbit holes to avoid sounds like the sort of race where not knowing the exact distance is probably the least of your concerns.

“Liam produced a superb run to finish second overall and the men’s team had a great battle with Truro for the win. Six age-category awards made it another strong day for the club, while taking 32 minutes off a course like this, as Susan managed, is a fairly remarkable achievement.”

The club thanked Bude RATs Run and Tri, along with the marshals and volunteers who helped stage the event.

Hayle Runners results

• Jon Eldon: 1:05:30
• Debbie Gossington: 1:43:39
• Neil Hayhurst: 1:02:16
• Olivia Henwood: 2:00:46
• Frazer Humbles: 1:15:17
• Andrew James: 1:05:14
• Liam O’Neill: 57:06
• Yelda Müge Parsons: 2:07:05
• Andrew Searle: 1:13:37
• Helen Squire: 1:54:04
• Claire Stone: 2:07:05
• Deborah Sturges: 2:00:54
• Susan Thomas: 1:37:41
• Hannah White: 1:50:00
• Mark Williams: 1:06:50

📷The winning Hayle Runners men's team (from left to right: Liam O'Neill, Jon Eldon, Andrew James, Neil Hayhurst)