Last year, a certain member of the club ‘dared’ me to run all 4 events (you know who you are!), and never being one to turn down a challenge, I accepted. Unfortunately, this also seems to have become a tradition in itself, the first thing my work colleagues asked me when we signed up was ‘are you doing all 4 again?’, bearing in mind I was running the London Marathon 4 days before the sensible answer would be no, sadly, I’m not sensible and so the question was answered with a resounding yes!
Rather than write a long winded summary of the whole evening I thought it may be best to write a brief summary of each race:
Killer Mile Club Race:
I lined up with fellow club members Dennis and Lindsay conscious that my legs had only stopped hurting from London Marathon the day before. We set off, and knowing that I only had 20 minutes to make it to the top and then back down under my own steam I set of as fast as I could. Things went pretty much to plan until I hit the ‘Cheshire View’ section which features a 1 in 4 incline and huge crowds, my legs began to protest at the exertion but I pushed on, eventually finishing the race in 11 minutes according to my watch, leaving me 9 minutes to run down! I jealously glanced at the other runners having a drink and resting while I literally spun round and began running back down. I arrived at the start with just enough time to slip my work teams top over my Striders vest!
Killer Mile Adult Race 1:
I was already dreading the sound of the start as I was still catching my breath from my rapid descent, this time I lined up with my work colleagues, shoulder to shoulder with my manager who had challenged me to try and beat him! Suffice to say it was a great atmosphere running with over 20 of my colleagues, some of who were running their first ever race. I’d managed to keep a few paces behind my boss the whole run and I’m please just say that just after the 25% incline of the Cheshire View he ran out of steam and I passed him just before the final stretch. With no time to celebrate my victory I turned round and once again sprinted back down.
Killer Mile Adult Race 2:
Back in my Striders top I can honestly say this was the worst of the 4 races, the problem being that despite being tired you still have to run up quick enough to allow yourself time to run back down! On the ascent this time I was passing my work colleagues on their way back down and members of the crowd were starting to realise I’d run in the previous races so I was getting great support. On starting my descent I could see the Race Control cars which I would have to arrive at roughly the same time at the start. This resulted in me having to run down the 25% incline by the Cheshire View Pub, not something I’d recommend!
To be honest, this was just a race of attrition now, I knew I had 30 mins to get to the top, and didn’t have to run back down. A lot of the crowd were now aware this was my 4th run so I took my time and enjoyed their support. After collecting my certificate I started on the best part of the evening, walking back down, watching the sunset over Cheshire.
Steve