DONNA GUNDRY describes a landmark achievement in the 10th anniversary year of a landmark annual South East Cornwall event.

EARLIER this month saw the 10th anniversary of the Looe 10 miler, a route that gains over 1,500 feet of elevation.

The race is part of the Cornish Grand Prix and is always incredibly popular, and this year over 550 athletes signed up for the run, with each runner being rewarded with a specially designed T-shirt, and goody bag, stuffed full of wonderfully donated items from the Spar shop (sweets and energy bars), lemonade from Cornish Orchard and a box of Cornish tea plus fresh fruit as athletes cross the finish line.

As an additional treat, Barry Osborne owner of PB Running, located near Roche, kindly donated 40 pairs of athletes socks, two free gait analysis and two pairs of Hoka trainers which were spot prizes to the athletes as they completed the race.

The event was sponsored by Westcountry Bakery who kindly provided food for the volunteers and Airtight storage solutions.

The route starts and ends in the Millpool car park. An undulating run through West Looe, following the river toward the fire station, where the athletes tackle the first of many hills on this route.

Looping across The Downs and the athletes run along the country lane towards Talland. From here

athletes take Bridals Lane, turning on Talland Hill, before turning

on to Sclerder Lane, then switching again towards Porthallow, returning the runners to Talland, where the runners complete the route, running back to Looe and returning athletes to Millpool.

Phil Shepley, who is no stranger to the 10 miler route, having previously completed a month-long challenge running the 10 miler route each day and raised thousands for charity, decided that this year something special was needed.

Starting on the Saturday lunchtime, he continually ran the 10 miler route for 24 hours, in aid of the Fire Fighters Charity.

Within 24 hours, he ran the route a staggering eight times, but at the end of the event he was still smiling having raised over £1,800 and rising, exceeding his expectations.

Prior to the 10 miler, children took part in the mini miler, with over 70 enthusiastic young athletes competing.

Zelah Tribe- Purvis came first for the girls aged 4-6, with Mazin Amr coming first for the boys in the same age group.

For the 7-9 years olds, Tilly Day came in first for the girls and Chris Munslow came in first for the boys.

In the eldest mini miner category, Phoebe Crabb crossed the finish line first for the girls and Malek Amr (big brother to Mazin) came in first for his age group and first overall.

Jacob Landers, from the Tamar Trotters smashed the previous record for fastest athlete for the 10 miler route, crossing the finish line in an incredible 58.14.

As for the Pioneers, Clive Finnimore came back first for the Pioneers, completing the route in 1:18.56, followed by Dale Tedder finishing in 1:23.23.

Jenny Cartwright came back first for the females, with a time of 1:32.52, closely followed by Darren Hardwick, who achieved a personal best on the route in 1:33.10. Other Pioneers finishers were Debbie Jones 1:37.16, Rob Kernaghan 1:43.31, Giles Francis 1:45.20. Gary Oswald 1:52.00, Simon Lawes 1:55.38, Sarah Barker 1:55.49, Sarah Haynes 1:58.19, Kelly Prutton 2:12.02, Becky Brewer 2:13.25, Kathy Saunders 2:16.32, and came second in her age group, followed by Beth

Aldridge in 2:27.57. Anne Harry and Gwen Vaughan crossed the finish line together with a time of 2:29.28.