Half-marathon added to ‘Great’ event for 2017
MANCHESTER’S biggest day of running will get even bigger next year after a new half marathon event was announced for 2017.
The current Great Manchester Run 10K is the biggest of its kind in Europe, the UK’s third largest mass participation event, and on Sunday the 300,000th finisher will cross the line on Deansgate.
Now, a new half-marathon has been added to be staged on the same day as the 10k event, forming part of a weekend that includes the Great CityGames and the Mini and Junior events.
The half marathon will follow a new route, taking in both the Etihad Campus and Old Trafford, running over the Mancunian Way, and finishing at the same point as the 10K beside the Beetham Tower on Deansgate.
The new, 13.1 mile event – held on the same day as the 10K – will offer an opportunity for Great Manchester Run 10K runners to experience a new challenge.
Both events will take place on Sunday May 28 2017, and entries will open at midday on Sunday May 22.
The Great Manchester Run was first staged in 2003 as a legacy event following the Commonwealth Games, held in Manchester the previous year and has grown to be the largest of its kind in Europe.
Arguably the greatest ever male distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie, has won in Manchester five times, with the 6.2mile course also being graced by triple Olympic champions Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele, along with Wilson Kipsang and Great Britain’s Jo Pavey, who has won the event twice.
The Great Manchester Run has also seen millions of pounds raised for a host of charities, with the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital having more than two thousand runners on the start line this year.
Brendan Foster, chairman of The Great Run Company, who organise the Great Manchester Run, said: “We’re delighted to add a half marathon route to what is already an incredible event.
We’re sure runners in Manchester will be as excited as we are about the chance to take on a half in their city centre, and take the Great Manchester Run on to a new level.
“We’ve worked with Manchester City Council for over a decade now to make this event a landmark in the city and the country, and it’s fantastic that we enjoy the continued support of the Council to make the Great Manchester Run even greater.”
