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The straight-up run goes past the 'Cheshire View' (don't you wish you could just stop there?!!) and ascends for the whole of its length up the side of Mow Cop’s ‘Station Bank’ and finishes at Mow Cop Castle.

A 25% hill - is that all?

Despite its formidable nature, the run can attract more than 600 competitors.
The Mile was first run in 1982 (although it was stopped in 2001 after foot and mouth restrictions prevented the race from taking place).
It was resurrected in 2005.

Unusually one competitor in 2006 ran the whole course by running backwards & achieved a very respectable 17 mins & 3 secs. (Sooner him than me!!) - and in 2008 we had some cartoon-style Mexicans. Takes all sorts!
Another famous competitor was Janine Machin, who was then Radio Stoke‘s Breakfast Show presenter, who ran a time of 12mins 50 secs.

To see a Photo Gallery of the 2008 race, just cut and paste this URL into your browser - www.mowcop.info.
To see photos from previous years, click below

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JANINE'S STORY

One year, the BBC producer. Janine Machin, decided (she must have been in a crazy mood!) that she would face the challenge. This is her story...

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I came, I saw, I almost ran away, but… I conquered! In 12 minutes and 50 seconds to be exact.

Go Janine - no slowing down!

The evening of the race saw about a thousand people climb up to Mow Cop to either take part in, or watch one of the shortest but most painful endurance races: one mile up a brutal bank which, whilst classed as a “Fun Run”, is anything but.

The Government may have had Black Wednesday in the same week but for me, the shadow was definitely hanging over Thursday. 

The build up started, in earnest, the day before… Eat Carbs! That was the message: plenty of water and pasta.
I’d known that I’d be running this race for a while, but for one reason or another (usually laziness!), hadn’t trained as hard as I might… and so I found myself on Wednesday afternoon on the treadmill in the gym, doing the physical equivalent of last minute exam cramming!

The day

Look at our photo gallery of the Mow Cop Killer Mile by clicking on the link below:

Thursday dawned and I woke up at 4:30 with a sense that it was going to be a hard day. 
“Take it a step at a time”, I told myself, “get the show done and dusted first and then concentrate on The Killer”.
In practice, that wasn’t easy, as I had to start eating my pasta at 6:15am! Lots of good luck messages meant that the race was never far from my mind and by home time, I was feeling the pressure.
A banana at 5 o’clock was the last bit of preparation, and an hour later, I was at the Cheshire View pub, gazing out over the race route. 

Next came the Club Runners: these are marathon runners, and people who take running VERY seriously. 25-year-old Steve Vernon from Stockport was first over the line after an awe-inspiring run of 6 minutes and 18 seconds. This man was pure muscle and determination… I was becoming increasingly anxious and wanted to run away, but my race was to start in just 30 minutes time.

And they were off!

The atmosphere on the start line was surprisingly relaxed. Naturally, in the adult section, there were a few runners who were practicing sprint starts and doing the kind of lunges that no-one should do in lycra, but on the whole, we were joking about who’d come last! The claxon sounded and we were off. Thankfully, Steve was running alongside me as my pace man, because the natural reaction in a race situation, is to try to keep up with the lead runner… and let’s face it, there was NO way I could do that!

Spectators were lining the route, shouting and clapping. The encouragement was great, but it was difficult to find a place to slow down and walk for a minute without being seen! By the half way point, my legs were holding out ok, but breathing was more of an issue. My throat was sore, and my chest was tight, but the hardest part of the course was yet to come.

Two thirds of the way into the race, we hit “the wall” by The Cheshire View. This is the steepest part of the course and was lined with hundreds of spectators: I didn’t want to walk in front of them, but running was SO painful, I had no choice. 
The crowd was shouting, and one woman even held out a lipstick to me, so that I’d look my best for the finishing line photo. I didn’t take it. I didn’t have the energy! But if that person was you, thank you so much for the thought, and for taking my concentration away from my agony for a brief moment. 

I managed to run to the finishing line

At this point, Steve looked at his watch and said “we’re coming up to 13 minutes. If you want to get your best time, you need to dig in now”. I didn’t think I had anything left to give, but as the top of the bank came into sight, and I knew that the flat finishing straight was around the corner, somehow I broke into a run. 

As I turned the corner, with the Castle and my parents to my right, I began overtaking a few of the runners in front of me… and crossed the line at 12 minutes 50. How could that be, when it had been almost 13 minutes a few hundred metres back? Simple, Steve lied. He tells me that it was a tactic to spur me on, and I have to believe him, because it worked.

How did I feel? Shattered, with legs like jelly, and a little nauseous, but really proud of my first ever sporting achievement. Will I do it again? The jury’s out!

Huge congratulations to everyone who took part. Huge thank you's to the Mow Cop Residents Association for organising it, and everyone who came to support the runners… but most of all thank you to Steve, without whom I’d still be at the bottom of the hill trying to talk myself out of it!!

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If you want to know what Janine's training schedule was - here's the low-down...

LEADING UP TO THE EVENT

Janine gets roped into the Killer Mile!

It was Friday 29th April, 2005 and when I began my programme at seven am, I had no idea that I was about to say something which would change my life! 

The day before had seen the Killer Mile run return to Mow Cop after several years break. “Killer Mile” is the perfect title for the event which began in 1982 and attracts thousands of people who are barmy enough to try to leg it up a 25% hill: this year, I happen to be one of those barmy people… but HOW?

I’ve managed to convince myself that I was tricked, by Breakfast Show listener Graham, into taking part. That Friday morning he called the show to have a chat with me about the race, and said “you should give it a go next year, Janine”. Without thinking, I blurted out “I will if you will”… Graham agreed, and long story short, the race is in 2 weeks! AGHH!

Not really a born runner...

Am I what you might call a “born runner”? Not on your nelly, but I am too proud to back out! Living just a few minutes away from the Killer route, I have attempted a couple of trial runs and have come to the conclusion that anyone who attempts this as a race must be superhuman or a masochist! It’s my idea of hell: half way up, it feels as though someone’s lit a fire in my legs and dropped a cannon ball on my chest. My throat burns, I feel sick, and my head tells me that I might never move again, yet somehow I reach the top.

Getting nervous about the race

As the date draws closer I am more anxious. I had been training on the treadmill, and seeing an improvement, but a couple of weeks off and I seem to be back to square one again. Am I enjoying it? Honestly? Not really! The challenge is good for me, and it’ll be great to look back afterwards and know I’ve done it, but in the meantime, it’s seriously hard work.

If you’re planning on running it too, good luck, and I’ll see you on the 27th… if you’re not, I salute your wisdom!

Personal Trainer Steve's version of events!

Steve Halls, Personal Trainer: “Roped into the Killer Mile”… you’re having a laugh! She talked her way into it with relative ease. I remember that “on air” conversation that Janine had with Graham (who is by the way a veteran of Killer Mile running): I also remember her first training session after the infamous “I will, if you will” gaffe, in which her only defence was “well how was I to know he’s done it loads of times?”. I pointed out that “a closed mouth gathers no feet” and “talking of feet (not shoes) we’d better get on yours pretty quickly!”.

As for “not a naturally born runner”, I’d disagree, but then the Killer Mile is not a natural course, so what the hell! Being able to run is only part of the requirement for completing the race: stamina and endurance far beyond normal middle-distance-running is needed for the toughest of road races. Cast Iron legs and lungs like a barrage balloon are more like it as people who try it for the first time on the day will soon find out. The nature of the course is such that it is almost impossible to get into a steady rhythm from the start without adequate hill running experience and training.

Starting her training...

Our training started in the gym, concentrating on more “Plyometrics” to increase Janine’s leg power and her ability to push through the pain barrier (should it ever arrive). Our first run on the hill produced a time of 15.46 and many a near death experience. Comments like “Oh God what have I done?” mixed with “I feel sick” became prominent in our subsequent runs up the hill. The timing is coming down though, as expected, and we are looking good to achieve a sub 14 minute run on the day… but don’t tell Janine!

Will the Bubbly Breakfast Presenter be chatting to the hoards on the hill? To use her own words “not on your nelly” unless of course they’re wearing some sort of sick bag. If you’ve done the Killer Mile before you’ll know exactly what I mean. Happy Training folks, Come On!!!