The Kimmy Killer – 3rd March 2024
Report by Martin Downham
The Kimmy Killer hasn’t been run since 2019 and with a last minute route change (due to a body being found in the woods and only spotted during the course inspection) this could be the only ever running of this challenging hilly charity run. In fact this event is listed as “unofficially the toughest charity run in England”.
It is challenging, as after about a minute the path turned on and up a very slippery, water-logged grass slope to be followed by a very steep road (West Hill) descent, which on this revised route is descended and climbed 3 times. This means that the leaders lapped a lot of the other runners before peeling off back over the slippery grass field to the start/finish line.
As a charity event, £1123.50 was raised on the day for Dementia Concern. Well done everyone.
No course records were broken, but 1st male was Dan Birkinshaw (Kimberworth Striders) in 35:12 and first female was Jo Rooney (Kimberworth Striders) in 42:29.
Overall, on the day, the weather cleared for this challenging hilly event. The steep bits were steep enough for some of the leaders to walk some sections too. Nice to know! It’s closer to Sheffield than I expected – less than 5 minutes from M1, Jnc 34. There’s a comfortable 10.30 start with registration on the day an option (if not sold out). The event was enthusiastically marshalled and residents offered cool drinks en-route.
If you love steep hills this could be the ultimate event for you.
Four Steel City Striders crossed the finish line:
| Name | Position | Time | Age Category |
| Nick Booker | 5th | 39.15 | M55 |
| Tom Cossham | 23rd | 45.19 | M50 |
| Martin Downham | 65th | 56.10 | M60 |
| Hannah Wright | 94th | 69.27 | F35 |
Full results: here
Nick, Tom, Martin and Hannah (pictured at the start)
As an aside, Tom has a supplementary report on toilet paper