Nantwich runners tested themselves at the gruelling ‘Mow Cop Killer Mile’ road race, writes Jonathan White.
And for one Nantwich family – the Buxtons – it was a day to remember with a hat-trick of wins!
The event, organised by Mow Cop Runners, returned for the first time since 2019 due to the pandemic.
Nantwich Running Club members were among more than 100 people who started at Drumber Lane and hauled themselves uphill via Station Road and Top Station Road to the finish at High Street near Mow Cop Castle folly.
The Killer Mile course includes 550 feet of climbing with a 25% gradient in places.
The event consisted of four races: Under 12s Fun Run on a shortened 0.75 mile long course, followed by the full mile for two Fun Runs and the Club Run.
The Under 12s Fun Run was won by Sebastian Buxton in 5 minutes 47 seconds.
The first Fun Run was won by Harrison Barber in 8 minutes and 32 seconds.
The second Fun Run was won by Ben Brereton in 7 minutes and 49 seconds.
The Club Run was won by Tom Fellbaum (Congleton Harriers) in 7 minutes and 37 seconds, 2nd place was Ryan Moore (Vale Royal AC) in 7:41, 3rd place was Max Holden in 7:58.
The first female across the line was Caroline Brock (Steel City Striders RC) in 8:47, 2nd female was Ciara Yates (City of Stoke AC) in 9:15, and 3rd female was Faye Sharpley (Macclesfield Harriers AC) in 9:28.
The fastest times from the Club Run in the Under 18s category were Max Holden 7:58, Michael Wood 8:10, and Liam Hibberd (Mow Cop Runners) 8:30.
The fastest times from the Club Run in the Women’s Veterans categories were F40 Fiona Buxton (Nantwich Running Club) 9:30, F50 Sara Harris (Styal Running Club) 12:04, F60 Carol Bird (Congleton Harriers) 10:44, V70 Valerie Stuart (Stafford Harriers) in 19:43.
The fastest times from the Club Run in the Men’s Veterans categories were M40 Danny Buxton (Nantwich Running Club) 8:25, M50 Andrew Godwin 9:22, M60 Richard Pettitt (Vale Royal AC) 11:49, M70 John Britton in 14:18.
So the Buxton family enjoyed a clean sweep of awards with son Sebastian and parents Fiona and Danny winning their respective age categories.
It was particularly apt that John Britton took part, winning his age category in the process, as he is the originator and inspiration for the Mow Cop Killer Mile having invented and organised the first-ever race in 1982.
Participants in fancy dress included cheerleaders and a dinosaur, along with a lady in a brightly coloured tutu and a participant running barefoot!
Every finisher received a Mow Cop ‘Killer Mile’ Congratulations certificate.
Mow Cop Killer Mile 2022, full results view here.
A £400 cash prize was available if the record time of 6:12, set by Bashir Hussain of Stockport in 1991, was broken.
As the record time was not beaten this year the cash prize in next year’s 2023 race will increase to £500.
The post-race presentations took place in the Mow Cop Community Church Hall with trophies and sponsor prizes presented to the top three finishers in each race category.
Geoff Pettengell, Chairman of Mow Cop Runners, compered the presentations.
Official race photos will be available from Bryan Dale’s website.
A representative from Mow Cop Runners said: “It was fantastic to host the Killer Mile race after a 3-year absence.
“It proved to be a very popular community event again and all the runners seemed to really ‘enjoy’ themselves in that special Killer Mile way!
“The only disappointment was that with a total of 386 runners across the four races the participation was significantly down on 2019. We will endeavour to publicise the event more widely next year.”
The sponsors of Mow Cop Killer Mile 2022 were Running Bear, Tesco, and A1 Skip Hire.
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