Race date: 8 May 2025

Race distance: 1 mile

Race report by Laura Rangeley

The Killer Mile, as the name suggests, is exactly one mile in length. It is also DASTARDLY. Entirely uphill, with almost 200m of elevation on a profile which includes gradients of up to and including 25%, finishing outside Mow Cop Castle, which isn’t actually a castle but an eighteenth century folly built by the excellently named Randle Wilbraham.

A 96-mile round trip is something we’d usually consider too far to travel for a one-mile race, but we made an exception for the Killer Mile. Not only did it come highly recommended by clubmate and multi-time champion Caroline Brock, but it’s a local race of our pal Olly (of Swift Run Coaching fame – those familiar with my race reports may remember a number of time trials he organised which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed) who’d recently turned 40, plus it sounded a bit daft, which is always a bonus in my book. So we turned it into a full night out, with a tasty pub tea after the race, and even managed to bag a new Ethel (Gun) on the way to make the most of the journey.

Almost 1000 people took part across 4 races – a slightly shorter junior race, 2 “fun run” waves, or an “elite” option. There wasn’t a qualifying criteria for this other than you had to be in a running club, which meant I panicked and didn’t know which race to enter, so I sent the organisers a little message before signing up. I was advised that for a “soak up the atmosphere” kinda night to go for the fun run, or if I fancied being competitive I’d be fine in the elite. Now I’ve crossed many a finish line looking like a slowly sautee-ing beetroot while my husband Jim and fellow faster runners look on, so I decided it’d be a nice change for me to watch them suffer and plumped for the fun run, which set off 25 minutes before the elites, giving me ample time to get to the top and ready for cheer squad duties. Plus it meant we could get to the pub quicker.

Signage to the race start was minimal, making parking somewhat of a challenge, luckily we’d arrived within the classic Laura “probably a bit too early” window so we were ok but it seemed a bit chaotic later on. In previous years this has I understand been a low key race, but thanks to a new sponsor and a big £1000 cheque on offer to anyone who could break the course record it came with a bit more fanfare this time around. Number collection was the traditional “gazebo in a field” affair, but with an added DJ. Soon enough it was my turn to line up on the road just after a railway crossing ready to go. The start of my race was delayed due to a train selfishly not waiting for us and closing the crossing, meaning lots of the runners were trapped behind the barriers until it passed. Eventually, without much ado, we were off!

The first quarter of a mile is only a little bit uphill, which gives you not only a bit of time to settle in but also a false sense of security. And then it starts to get steeper. Then a bit more. And a bit more. Now I know I’ve done my fair share of fell races but usually a big hill is a sign to have a snack and a walk, which didn’t seem to be a reasonable option here – full effort uphill is something I’ve only really done on Millhouses spirals and similar training sessions. I was grateful for these and was able to keep going quite a bit further than those around me before resorting to a walk. I was able to keep momentum and keep chucking in bits of running (mainly driven by an imagined competition with a young teen who was taller than me and wearing Vans trainers), at least until the 25% gradient sign where I resorted to a proper hands-on-knees stomp. The course was really well supported with locals lining the street and was a real festival atmosphere, which kept me motivated and helped me muster up a few more bits of running.

Reaching the 200m to go sign and a sharp right turn took us to an almost flat finishing straight – a nice surprise! I managed to really pick up the pace here and push for the end, overtaking quite a few people on the way. The finish line itself was hidden round a corner with another bit of climb, but nothing compared to what had gone before. I’d set myself a goal of sub 15 minutes and couldn’t believe it when the clock was just ticking towards 12.30, so I gave it my absolute all to stay underneath it and managed a chip time of 12.27, 10th female and 3rd in category in the fun run, a great result for me – always knew my forte was enjoying myself! I crossed the finish line with burning lungs, watering eyes (at least they weren’t bleeding) and wobbly legs, and claimed my medal before having a little photoshoot in front of the castle.

And then it was time to watch the elites! I managed to bag myself a great spot just before the final corner to the finish. Despite the sore throat from too much breathing (can you get DOMS in your lungs?), I managed to get some good yells out, including the excitement of GB Mountain Runner Sara Willhoit smashing the women’s course record, Caroline being the first Strider past me and Jim not much behind, sneaking under 10 minutes. Great fun, and well worth the trip.

The walk back down the hill was also a pig.

There were 974 finishers across 4 race waves, fastest on the night overall were unsurprisingly both in the elite race – Ash Burgess of Birchfield Harriers in 06.55 and Sara Willhoit (Shrewsbury AC) in 07.42.

Striders results