Luke Grenfell-Shaw, 27, claimed his victory at this year’s Eden Project Marathon, as runners from far and wide traversed the trails and pounded the pavements under bright autumn sunshine.
Luke, who finished with a time of 2.45.27, was diagnosed with cancer three years ago and is in the midst of a Bristol to Beijing tandem bike expedition to raise money for five charities that support young people living with cancer.
Luke, who is from Bristol and is unaffiliated with a running club, was running the Eden Marathon during a break in the expedition and will be returning to Pakistan to continue later this month.
Luke said: “What I’m trying to do with this ride is show what’s possible with a cancer diagnosis – it’s still possible to be active and still possible to achieve your dreams.
“It’s an amazing course, really beautiful but tough – up and down, up and down! I just tried to keep relaxed and recover on the way down. It’s a wonderful part of the world to run in and the weather was perfect, you couldn’t ask for a better October day.”
Second fastest man in the marathon was Martin Dawson, 46, from Chesterfield who runs with North Derbyshire Running Club and finished with time of 2.53.29. Third was Steve Reynolds, 35, from Truro who represents Truro Running Club and finished with a time of 3.03.00.
Pippa Ebel, 25, was the fastest woman in the Eden Marathon. Pippa, an unaffiliated runner from London, finished with a time of 3.25.08.
Pippa said: “It was amazing, it’s a beautiful course and the marshals were fantastic. There was a nice amount of up and down and the woodlands were amazing. This is the first time I’ve run at Eden and the first marathon I’ve run in eight years and it was just perfect. This was one of the best races I’ve had in terms of organization, everything was seamless.”
The female marathon podium was completed by second-placed Lucy Williams, 35, from Mount Hawke who competes for Truro Running Club. Lucy finished with a time of 3.47.26. Third fastest woman was Emma Langstaff, 45, from Looe who runs for Looe Pioneers and finished with a time of 3.49.40.
The fastest man in the half-marathon was Marc Smerdon, 30, from Bodmin, who finished with a time of 1.20.41 and added to his extensive Eden medal cabinet with his first victory in the 13.1-mile race.
Marc, who is currently unaffiliated to a running club, was victorious in the 2015 Eden Project Marathon and he has finished on the podium at Eden races four additional times.
Marc said: “I’m used to the course and it was fun out there today. It feels good to win, I’m happy to get a win in the half-marathon because I’ve not won the half before.”
Second place was Stephen Derrett, 30, from Cheltenham who runs with Western Tempo and finished just a second behind Marc with a time of 1.20.42. In third was Ross Macdonald, 34, from Greenock in Scotland who runs for Plymouth Musketeers Running Club and came in with a time of 1.24.09
The fastest woman in the half-marathon was Ruby Orchard, 39, from Truro who runs with PB Running Club and finished with a time of 1.26.58, just four seconds short of the course record.
Ruby said: “It was quite a nice run, quite undulating, I quite enjoyed it. A bit of a change really because I’m used to roads. It was very good, well organised and there was good support on the course. It feels great to win, I’m really pleased with my time.”
Second fastest woman in the half-marathon was unaffiliated runner Rachel Parker, 31, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire who finished with a time of 1.31.15 despite being stung by a weaver fish yesterday (Saturday).
Third fastest woman was Jo Temple, 24, from Truro who is unaffiliated to a club and finished with a time of 1.34.51.
More than 1,250 participants signed up to take part in this year’s races, which have been highly anticipated following the postponement of last year’s event due to the global pandemic.
The event, jointly organised by Eden and St Austell Running Club, has become a firm fixture in the running calendar and celebrated its tenth birthday in 2019.
As usual, this year saw participants taking on the challenge of multi-terrain courses through spectacular landscapes before crossing the finish line in front of Eden’s world-famous Biomes.
Runners then soaked up the atmosphere with a well-earned beer and pasty.
Eden Project Commercial Manager Tracey Smith, who has organised the event since its inception, said: “The last few years have been a real challenge for all of us so today felt even more special than ever. To see everybody coming together, supporting and celebrating each other’s achievements is exactly what this event is all about.
“As always, we’d like to thank St Austell Running Club and all the volunteers and marshals, without whom, our eleventh event would not have been possible. Congratulations to everyone who took part today. We hope you all extremely proud of yourselves.”
Race Director of the Eden Project Marathon and Half-Marathon Doug Alsop said: “Seeing everybody out here, enjoying themselves in the glorious weather we have been blessed with was absolutely brilliant.
“We’ve had such lovely comments about the beautiful scenery and how supportive the marshals have been. It has been a big slice of positivity to follow on from the darker times everybody has been through.”
The Marathon and Half-Marathon will return next year with booking details being announced soon.
To find out more about Luke Grenfell-Shaw's Bristol2Beijing expedition see: https://www.bristol2beijing.org/.
