Overall incredible event. For me personally, best marathon in the UK hands down! The medal as always, fantastic, the merch fantastic... although I would prefer not having to go into the Adidas store in the city centre for the hour long queue to get in (but minor moan compared to the event itself) Course is 95% flat, couple of small lumps and one slightly steeper lump but other than that, it is a PB course for sure.

MUFC PARKING: Overall I was very happy with this event and would do it again so this is not really a reflection on the Marathon organisers BUT the pre-booked parking at MUFC Old Trafford football ground was an absolute disgrace! DO NOT USE THIS. The queue of cars stopped moving 2 miles before the car park (we arrived 1 hour early) and I had to get out and walk the rest of the way to the race starting area. If I had been driving alone then I would certainly have missed the race altogether and I'm sure this must have happened to some people. Luckily my wife was with me and able to stay in the car but it took her 2 HOURS to reach the car park! When she finally got there, the staff would not accept my print-out as proof of booking or her screenshot of my booking, they would only accept the proof from my phone wallet and thankfully I left my phone with her as without it she may have been refused access, even though I pre-booked! To the race organisers I would say you need to sort his out as it does reflect badly on you. To everyone else participating or supporting I say DO NOT USE THIS CAR PARK!

Finished marathon but as they'd moved the finishing line they didn't have the t shirts that we had pre ordered. We were give a fake email address to contact for our shirts to be posted to us. That obviously didn't work. Staff were very unhelpful . (Gave a fake email address) .still have not recieved our shirts.

Pre ordered t-shirt still waiting, never sent the time for medal when running water limited at stations. No goodie bag given. Staff on day lying shh disappointed runners, Been emailing since event no response appalling attitudes. After cut off time families worried as told no more people running when there were.

First time running Manchester Marathon and overall I was very very impressed! As it is now the 2nd biggest marathon in the UK after London, it really has that big event feel you would expect. That will also bring some challenges of course, however I was in the Blue Wave with a start time of 9.20am so I understand I missed the huge crowds. Bag drop was super easy. Plenty of toilets with only a few minutes to wait. Funnel to the start line was fast and efficient and we left spot on time. Course was great with plenty of support throughout - especially Altrincham, which was absolutely mental! - although the first very warm spring day probably helped. Plenty of drink stations along the route and thankfully they went for water bottles which made it a lot easier to stay hydrated in a very hot race. Atmosphere coming back into the finish was amazing, although I feel like they could have had a bigger finish line set-up as that felt like a bit of an anti-climax. Medal and T-shirt were high quality, although finish line snacks and goodies were pretty poor. Getting bags and heading into the city centre for transport out was also really easy, although finishing in front of 30,000+ people probably helped. I would 100% recommend this race to first timers, as well as experienced marathoners looking for a PB.

Overall this was a well organised event and I enjoyed the day. It is a big event, not sure of the exact number which was fewer than the 36,000 claimed but a lot! I was in the 4th wave (bronze) and everything went smoothly for me, but I have the sense that as the waves went on it got more crowded, there were longer queues for the portals, and so on. There was a lot of walking to do, both at the start with walk from tram station, walk to bag drop, hanging around start area, quite a lot of time on your feet before you even start running. However we started bang on time, the crowd support was fantastic, the aid stations had plenty of water, and the bottles meant you could hold it in your hand and sip as you run which is a lot easier than with with a cup! At the end there is also a lot of walking to do when you really need somewhere to sit down and recover, not sure how this could be improved as of course the finish area needs to be kept clear. Free Adidas photo looked great but long lines put me off. Photos very expensive. Still, a lot of fun, nice medal and T shirt.

Really good marathon with good on course support, volunteers were great, the start procedure is hassle free, I'd definitely recommend. The finishers t shirt is poor (I've had better t shirts for local 10ks) and the congestion getting out at the end is terrible - you can't have thousands of people crossing over the finish line at once! Other than that, a really good event, already signed up for next year 😀

Unfortunately, despite the pre-race correspondence and hype, the event was let down by a lack of organisation at the end of the race, which resulted in a dangerous situation for runners. The traffic light system across the finish straight, which saw the exit from the finishing village cross paths with the actual finishing funnel, was highly impractical. Finishing runners were stopped and held to allow those exiting the finishing village to cross the road. Standing still immediately after finishing a race of any distance is highly unadvised, never mind a marathon, and it is imperative runners keep moving and stretch. Both of these were impossible in the tight area runners were being held and packed into. On top of this, the first water station following the finish line was AFTER the crossing point, meaning held runners were unable to access vital water to replenish depleted supplies, with many going dizzy / light headed around me. Following this, runners were given a medal and t-shirt but no goody-bag containing a cereal bar/ Haribo/ nuts/ any vital sustenance that marathon runners desperately need at the end of a race. In fact, cans of beer were given out but no snack! On top of this, there was no foil blanket, a must upon finishing a race to capture body heat and prevent runners from getting too cold as their body re-adapts. Without this blanket to act as an insulator, the ensuing trek / walk around a 1-way system through Old Trafford was made all the more worse. After collecting a medal and t-shirt, runners were then ferried the whole way round Old Trafford Cricket Ground (even if they did not require bag drop) with all Exit signs taking them through the concourse. It was very unclear whether there was another exit prior to this, allowing runners to disperse effectively. Instead, the majority of participants were ferried through a very tight, packed concourse, with people also trying to enter the other way. This situation was made worse by the fact supporters had been allowed inside the event village, meaning it was not only runners exiting via this very tight and packed area. The majority of participants and supporters alike were then held in the traffic light system (again!) which intercepted the finish straight. All were held back in an unmoving crowd with no idea why it was at a stand still. At this point, runners (having just completed a 26.2 mile run, been ferried the whole way round Old Trafford and provided no food) were dropping like flies and keeling over. Due to the placement of this funnel system and the sheer volume of people being sent through it, the medics could not get through to attend to those unwell. This was an incredibly scary, dangerous situation and could have been extremely serious (I very much hope everyone I saw on the floor was OK and made a full recovery). This whole situation took well over an hour; the last thing you need after completing a marathon. I understand the event was working within the constraints of a city centre area, however this is why an event of this size and scale should finish in an open space, such as a park, so participants can disperse effectively.