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 busy road to run full pelt up and down again?
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 because they’re so full on effort wise and this was as hard as anything I’ve done, short or ultra distance.
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)
| Position | Athlete | Surname | Forename | Elapsed | Time |
| 1 | A01480 | Clark | Duncan | 00:11:52 | 12:40:36 |
| 2 | A01491 | Cwannich | Sam | 00:11:59 | 12:40:43 |
| 3 | A01484 | Crosby J | Anthony | 00:12:01 | 12:40:45 |
| 4 | A01490 | Young | James | 00:12:24 | 12:41:08 |
| 5 | A01481 | Allen | Richard | 00:12:32 | 12:41:16 |
| 6 | A01489 | Bown | Martin | 00:13:44 | 12:42:28 |
| 7 | A01483 | Tryack | Andy | 00:14:24 | 12:43:08 |
| 8 | A01488 | Joseph | John | 00:15:56 | 12:44:40 |
| 9 | A01482 | Clayton | Sean | 00:16:26 | 12:45:10 |
| 10 | A01486 | Schofield | Joe | 00:18:05 | 12:46:49 |
| 11 | A01487 | Schofield | Ben | 00:18:06 | 12:46:50 |
| 12 | A01485 | Crosby S | Anthony | 00:18:26 | 12:47:10 |