Meteor Mile 2026

My husband, dad, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew and I recently ran Meteor Mile. It was the third time for my husband and I, and the second time for the others. My daughter, mum and Hetty came along to watch.

Organised by Almost Athletes running club, Meteor Mile is a race on the runway of Gloucestershire Airport, taking place on the last Friday evening of August. Racing on the runway is a unique experience and I absolutely love it (even if I do feel like I’m going to die while actually running!).

The race takes place at 8pm, but, being on an airport runway, there are a few more rules to follow, so we have to arrive pretty early. Numbers and timing tags were picked up from a gazebo outside the terminal building and only available between 6:15 and 7. We arrived just after 6:30. There was plenty of parking, directed by Almost Athletes volunteers, on grass at the airport.

The toilets were the airport toilets inside the terminal. The queues were never long, even though there were only two toilets for the ladies. Meteor Mile day was the first time I’d felt cold wearing running vest and shorts in months. We, along with a lot of other people, discovered it was a lot warmer waiting inside the terminal building!

In the past, the timings of the race have been quite strict, with everyone going airside together in time for the briefing at 7:30. This year, the briefing was a bit later. We then all have to run or walk the mile to the start line. My husband and I used this as a warm-up. I jogged the first half a mile, then did half a mile of warm-up drills. When I got to the start, it was already 7:55 and there were loads of people still to arrive. The race wasn’t going to start promptly at 8.

I did three quick sprints to get my legs warmed and get my heart rate up a bit. The thing that makes the mile so hard is that your heart rate just goes up to maximum almost immediately, so it’s better if it is already a bit higher to start with.

Last year, I’d spent months stressing about the Meteor Mile. I was trying to get the age group club record and I was so determined. This year, I knew there was a chance I could break the record again, but it wasn’t stressing me out. The record was already mine! There are also trophies for the first male and female runners from our club. Last year, I was actually fourth lady from the club. The year before, I was second. I’d realised a few days before this year’s race that none of the people who’d finished in front of me were running. There was a chance I could get that trophy!

The problem with this year is that the weather has been so hot, I genuinely had no idea how fast I can run. I’m 52, nearly 53. Science says I should be getting slower. I got PBs in every distance apart from marathon at 51. I got a marathon PB this year. But apart from that I’ve been racing 10ks in 28 degree heat and, unsurprisingly, running slower than last year. So who knows how I would get on with running a mile on a cooler evening?

The Meteor Mile has a chip finish, but a gun start – like parkrun. So if you start back from the start line, you’re going to be running further and therefore your finish time will be marginally slower. I decided that, as I was going for the club trophy and there was still a chance of a new club record, I was starting right on the start line! The start line is very wide, so I wasn’t in the way of any of the very fast runners and I felt I had as much right to be there as they did. They would finish in front of me, but they probably wouldn’t be getting club records and most of them wouldn’t get trophies.

The last two people to arrive ready for the start were my dad and niece. By this point, it was already after 8pm. I was concerned the run director wouldn’t know they were there and would just start the race. Instead, the race started at 8:05pm.

I was suddenly hit by nerves. I know how horrible running a fast mile is. But I also know how quickly it’s over. The horn went and we were off! I went off like a rocket. I knew it was too fast, but I was pulled along by all the fast people on the start line. For the first few seconds, I was in front of all the men from my club.

The first 300m are on the airport’s taxiing lane, then the route curves round to the right and we’re on the runway. Before I even hit the runway, I had this horrible tingling feeling in my arms, which I know is an indication I’m running way faster than is safe for me. Obviously I didn’t have music, with the race being so short (although it was allowed), so I could just hear my own horrible breathing. I was literally gasping for breath.

Lots of runners were passing me – mainly men, but also little kids and younger women. I was slowing down because my body was giving me no choice but to slow down.

The terminal building and the finish line are in view the whole time. I could see the stream of runners ahead of me. There were marshals on the course shouting my name and cheering me on.

I was telling myself it was horrible and I was never going to put myself through this again. I’d run the race, but I wouldn’t run as fast. I looked at my watch. My eyesight isn’t great and I couldn’t read it properly. Was that 0.5 miles or 0.6? My pace, which had initially started with a 5 was now showing 6:14. That’s a PB and club record pace.

I kept running, kept gasping for breath, kept willing it to be over.

About 200m from the finish, the route curves around towards the terminal building. I thought I might speed up at this point. but I didn’t have it in me. Just before the finish line, my husband nipped in front of me. That was very unexpected. He beat me by more than 20 seconds last year, but he tore his hamstring last Christmas and still isn’t 100% recovered.

My watch showed I crossed the line in 6:17. If it was accurate, I’d broken my own club record! I’d also won the trophy for first female from the club. When my win was announced, it turns out I’d actually run it in 6:15 – so I’d beaten the record by four seconds, without even ‘trying’.

It looks like I am still capable of running fast at 52, nearly 53.

I was buzzing with my achievement until bedtime.