Manchester Marathon (UK) Reviews & Race Reports
30 reviews from runners who've completed this race
Manchester Marathon (UK) reviews and race reports
The climb through Altrincham — Many runners call out the bridges and the winding hill through Altrincham town as the one real climb, around the middle of the race. Some shrugged it off, but others said the course is lumpier than its flat billing.
Deansgate and the city centre loop — Several runners say the early loop through the city centre, around Deansgate near mile 5, has the loudest crowds of the day. Some found it hard not to speed up there.
The long road out toward Sale and Timperley — After the city, a long straight road heads out toward Sale and Timperley, and some runners found it dull. A DJ under an underpass gave a lift there.
Suburban crowds and the rise into Chorlton — Runners praised the support from Altrincham, Timperley, Sale and Chorlton, with choirs and school singing along the way. Near the end, the slight uphill into Chorlton hurt tired legs.
Struggled with fatigue after a strong start, but finished strong.
Pretty uneventful for the first 25k, I managed to maintain a consistent target pace (5:00/km) without too much drift. This part of the course was easy, pretty boring at times, I felt like there was plenty of energy left in the tank and kept the HR comfortably within Z3. 25-30k (Timperley/Altrincham) was the same slaughterhouse I remember from last year, with multiple sharp inclines and people bumping into each other on the narrow roads.
Struggled with heat and cramps but still achieved a significant PB
No amount of gels or saltstick was helping now, and the cramps were dwelling throughout, I had decided that PB is on, so let's keep running for it. I genuinely was so heated up that I felt like I was on a burner, it was getting so hard because in training even when I would take water, a few sips were ample for me, but here yesterday I was chugging water from the stations and using it on my face also. Throughout my training and especially long runs, I didn't get a single cramp on any session, but I think the heat was making it extremely challenging.
Struggled with heat but still achieved a 10-minute PB
The first 5km went by in a breeze, at the first water stop it was quite chaotic but I grabbed a water bottle and took my first gel. I made sure to keep my water bottle until the next water station since it was getting quite warm. Up until half way it was rinse and repeat, chuck old bottle, gel, new water and I slowly worked my way up to be with the lead 3:15 pacers as we entered Altrincham.
Struggled with heat and hydration in the final kilometers
By UK standards the temps were getting hot and a lot of people were struggling. It didn’t feel like there were enough water stations in the last 10km and I was just dying for some extra drink stations. Luckily I caught my girlfriend around 32km and got some extra electrolytes and fluids onboard. Overall, I had 3 gels, one every 45mins and half a Voom bar near the end but was struggling to keep them down and struggled a bit balancing the fuelling side of things.
Struggled with unexpected heat and a lumpy course
Whoever said that Manchester was flat, needs their eyes tested. It was a lumpy course, and there was a very long drag uphill around mile 16. It also coincided with the sun breaking through and warming up - bearing in mind that this was the longest, wettest winter I've ever trained in, the heat felt unusual, to say the least.