Meltham Murder Maniac Road Race – Report

It’s 6 hours since the race finished, my legs are still sore,  lungs are still burning and I could fall asleep right now.

The Meltham Maniac Mile is a classic old road race that’s not been run for about 25 years and is one that really caught my attention when I saw it mentioned in Feet in the clouds and it’s a race that’s a mile

The start line on Wessenden Head Road – It’s about an 8% gradient all the way up

Sadly the race suffered a from a bit of a lack of publicity while getting set up so 12 of us toed the start line with me very much thinking I was going to regret my morning 7.5 miles and last minute entry but carpe diem right … ?

Who knows when it’s going to be safe enough on this b

Lactic acid

The start went and my only tactic was all-in for the climb but about 1/3 of a mile up the hill while sharing the early lead my legs just filled with lactic acid and that was me done. I slowed right down, lost the lead quickly and got overtaken by two other runners but held onto 4th up to the turnaround point and then for the infamous downhill.

I made it up the hill in a respectable 8:17 and just didn’t have much left but the gradient carries you down and while the course was fractionally short so I covered the downhill part at a new PB pace for me (4:42/mile!) – still way way short of what others have done in the past although I don’t know if some of the amazing times were done in years when the race was just the downhill mile.

Kipsang speed

I wanted to experience a new level of speed (for me) and it proved to be about right on the downhill but to put some context into it, I ran 1 mile at Wilson Kipsang’s marathon pace, it’s a different sport he takes part in!

Still, 4th place, lungs of fire, acid in my throat and legs of jelly, there’s nothing to keep you honest like a short distance race!

I still find 5 and 10k races to be the hardest distances b

Can’t wait for the next one which I believe is happening and hopefully with a bit more publicity and support will take place later in the summer. Follow the Facebook page for more info/updates.

Official results: (Via Meltham Memories)