IN the early hours of Saturday morning, while most people were sleeping, Claire Grubb was just beginning 64 miles of coast path running.

Named “Plague”, Claire was taking part in the longest of the five courses on offer to those attending the Roseland August Trail “RAT” trail and ultra running festival. The races are all off-road coastal path routes along a stretch of the stunning South Cornwall Coastal Path between St Anthony Head on the Roseland Peninsula and Porthpean in St Austell Bay.

It is a self-navigating and self-sufficient event. After the Plague’s 64-mile route, there was the Black 32-mile option (2005m of elevation), the Red 20-mile (1405m of elevation), the White 11-mile (796m of elevation) and the “Bring Out Your Dead” 5-mile loop which runners can run continuously for 24 hours.

Claire is no stranger to coastal endurance events, having achieved 65 miles of the well-known Arc of Attrition event in January 2024. Claire’s goal for the Plague was to complete it in under 15 hours which she succeeded, having a finishing time of 14 hours and 55 minutes. Claire was the third lady home and, as it was the British trail running championships ultra distance, Claire ended up with two trophies and two medals.

New ORC member Mary Roberts took part in the 20-mile route for the 5th time, her 7th RAT event overall and achieved her quickest time of five hours and 13 minutes. As an added bonus, Mary was the third in her age group.

Andrew Vernon and Stephen Simcock were also in Cornwall this weekend for a bit of running tourism taking part in the Indian Queens Half Marathon. Back for its 41st year, this undulating route takes runners around country lanes and minor roads with about five miles of the course on the Goss Moor trail.

Currently the club record holder for the Vet 55 1-mile category, Andrew, well-known for his quick pace and his motivation to improve, Andrew achieved a time of one hour 31 minutes and fifth in the Vet 55 category although he felt he had a “bad two last miles.”

Stephen was just ahead of Andrew coming home in a time of one hour 30 minutes and first in the Vet 60 category.

Returning to the theme of coastal path ultra running, Jo Page was the third lady home in the South West Coast 50km Ultra Challenge.

Jo finished the event in six hours and 28 minutes and adds to her extensive list of completed events. Jo said that it was “one of the hardest races” she’s done, second only to her 100-mile event.

Even though she was broken on the day after and walking was a challenge, Jo still “highly recommends” the event and will likely be back out running soon enough.