Indian Queens is a village on the A30 in Cornwall, halfway between Newquay and St Austell, approximately 10 miles from Bodmin. The unusual name arises from the eponymous coaching inn in the late 18th century. The hostelry displayed a sign with a portrait of an Indian queen after a Portuguese princess had stayed there one night en route to London from Falmouth. Her swarthy appearance gave the impression that she was an Indian person.

A more unlikely story is that the visitor was actually Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief of the Indigenous American people. There is a street in Indian Queens today called Pocahontas Crescent.

Indian Queens is also put on the map each summer by the Indian Queens Half Marathon, the 43rd iteration of which was held on Sunday, 3 August 2025, with 547 finishers in 3:22:00. The race is organised by volunteers to raise essential funds for local groups and charities.

The course has approximately 140 metres of ascent and is run on quiet roads and trails. From the start on Highgate Hill, runners climb past the Port & Starboard and head towards Ruthvoes. Passing notable features like Gnomeworld, Toads Hole, Tregoss village, Rosedown Kennels, and Pitsmingle before retracing your steps to finish at the Working Men's Club. This being rural Cornwall, the race instructions warn runners about potential hazards such as cows, ponies, adders, and ticks, advising runners to give them all a wide berth!

In weather conditions described as 'mizzle', the top three men were Tom Morton (Newquay & Par AC, 1:11:00), Steve Reynolds (Truro RC, 1:12:37) and Jamie Edwards (Newquay Road Runners, 1:16:47). Carly Kendall (St Austell AC, 1:26:59) won a close women's race from Nayana Jain (Queen Mary & Westfield College, 1:27:19) and Aoife Mooney (Cornwall AC, 1:29:23).

A delivery error resulted in many competitors missing out on their finisher's medals and T-shirts, but organisers are on the case and these will be posted out when they arrive. Many of the comments on social media were supportive of the Race Director in the circumstances.

This message was typical: "Alison did an absolutely fantastic job! The small issues of medals and t-shirts can be sorted! Thank you everyone who was patient and kind! Please do remember that anyone who helps with a race are volunteers and give up their time for the love of running, some participating themselves! Be Kind!"

All the results are available at the runABC South race listing here.

Photo from a previous event courtesy of Indian Queens Half Marathon on Facebook