The Manchester Half course is seriously fast. No U-turns. Wide roads meaning no congestion or bottlenecks. Flat as a pancake for 99% of the route. Maybe different in some of the later waves, but definitely felt more of a “serious” event than GNR and Cardiff Half, probably due to the opportunity that this gave people for a big PB. Only constructive comment is that there were a couple of stretches when you go back past Old Trafford where they probably needed more barriers as there were a few people nipping across the road that runners were having to avoid. Great finishing area - especially the cracking goody bags that Applied Nutrition were handing out. Plus managed to achieve an 8 minute PB so not complaining at all.

A nice course through some interesting bits of Manchester. A shortage of toilets at the start led to huge queues and in spite of arriving well in advance of the advised time, I only just made my starting wave before it left. Starting waves seemed very disorganised with lots of people mixed together from different waves all in one pen. I had a few problems with non-participants on the course. e.g. one guy wheeling his pushbike across the course on a crowded section was kind of hard to get past. I gave them an estimated finishing time when I applied but they put me in a starting wave with pace runners about half an hour slower than my estimates. Then on the day there were no pace runners in my wave or any nearby wave that I could see. I feel like this affected the time I achieved. There was no goody bag at the end (that I could see). I don't expect much but a foil blanket (it was a chilly day) and some snacks would have been really welcome - they advise you to come by public transport and meet your friends away from the finish line so your'e a bit on your own at that point, feeling shaky and exhausted. At least they were handing out water. There was alcohol free lager available too It wasn't a disaster, I enjoyed doing the running, but overall it really wasn't very good value for money. I don't think I'll be back.

The race was a lovely route, however there was no goodie bag, no finisher text, no barriers in a lot of places where I had to push supporters out of the way as they were blocking the course. Loo roll ran out by the time we used the portaloos at 9am. Finish area was also really quiet and we felt like corralled cattle. Getting into colour waves was also really difficult as people were just crowding the street and we couldn't see the volunteers walking with tape. Good race but not sure what I paid for and left disappointed. Didn't see any staff at the start line other than the fabulous guys collecting leftover clothes

I loved the event right up to the point when I went to get my goodie bag with medal and T-shirt. I was so unbelievably disappointed that all the medium T-shirts had gone by the time I collected my bag. Gutted and disappointed are an understatement. Surely it was known how many people would require a T-shirt as I had to indicate that at the beginning!!! Very very poor ending to a great event until then. (Can’t choose 2023 from the drop-down year selector!!)

A relatively large event with approximately 10k runners this year who were all divided into waves, although it would have been helpful to have pacers more spread out into other waves (e.g All the 1:30 and 1:40 pacers were bunched into the white wave only). The course itself is flat and comes into the city centre before exiting towards Sale and looping back to Old Trafford for the finish. And as always in Manchester, the supporters were just fab with lots of bands, choirs, DJs and entertainment scattered along the route to cheer you on. Baggage drop and collection was very swift with no delays whatsoever. Transportation getting to and from the race was a breeze when using the Metrolink Trams, there were staff in the nearby tram station (Trafford Bar) on hand to provide information. One small criticism is that they could have done with putting up some toilets in the start area as we were made to wait there for quite some time before race starts, so big kudos to the Bishop Blaize pub on Chester Road for putting up with a stream of runners going in to use their facilities! All in all, a great race in a great city with a lovely medal too.

Manchester HM was joined by Manchester Marathon this year as a double headed on the same day. This meant a really early start for me, that early that I was at baggage drop and it was still dark!!!

Was a pacer.

Have always enjoyed the Manchester half / full.  This year events where run at the same time, lead to an early start 8.10 am for the half.  Rolling start casually marshalled.  Not a bad thing as we return to events.

Big race village of the cricket ground, well stocked with Toilets, no big wait at any point.  Few stalls, plenty of bag drop areas.

Parking a little more difficult as the new course blocked in the regular local parking locations you can still get out the area, just a little more confined than the years before.

Course this year is a long slight downhill first few miles then a few humps on a slight up hill on the way back.  If you can keep good speed on the return leg, possible PB course.

Only real issues was the marathon runners running towards the half marathon runners in the last 1km, was pacing the 3 hours, I could see how this could cause a bit of intimidation for the less experienced runner.

Water and gels available at all the stops.  Locals giving out the sweets in good supply.

Medal at the end, T-shirt at the end was extra. No real goodie bag this year.

still one of the best half's in the north along with Liverpool RnR.   So will have no real competition from next year, which will be a shame.

 

 

Manchester half marathon is fantastic, done it the past two years now and it’s always been a fantastic well supported run, it’s great running through the city and the support from the locals is superb, always get adults and even children stood with free sweets and chocolate to keep you going. Water stations are always stocked up and well marshalled so you don’t need to stop to grab your drink like many other races. The only down fall in 2019 was the waiting time in the pens to get started and the no t-shirt at the end of the run. The t-shirt in 2018 was great and I still wear it now so why you didn’t get one in 2019 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ I understand about the race pens being there for safety and to get the quicker runners off first and that but when your suppose to start at 9am but don’t cross the start line until gone 9.30 and it’s raining and very cold isn’t ideal. All in all I will be back in 2020 

Starting pens were a disaster zone. No clear marking, everyone mixed. Not good for a PB chaser.