It’s time for thousands more runners to descend on the city centre this weekend as the Great Manchester Run returns for 2024, so we think it’s about time for another helpful guide, don’t you?
Last year marked 20 years of the massive Manc event, one of the most well-attended in the country, with record numbers of runners and many famous athletes like Olympic legend Mo Farah taking part.
This year’s Great Manchester Run is set to be just as big and beautiful; the city and the people really are at their very best on days like these, so you don’t want to miss it.
Here’s everything you need to know about the big day.
The route for the 2024 Great Manchester Run
Let’s start off with something pretty simple but rather important: the route for this year’s Great Manchester Run, which is practically the same as it is every year.
ADVERTISEMENT
The half marathon route for the 2024 Great Manchester Run (Credit: Great Run)
As you can see above, a broad sweep of the half marathon route sees runners set off from the usual starting line on Portland Street before heading out of the city, up and over Mancunian Way before arriving at the Etihad Stadium and looping back around towards Old Trafford.
After ticking off both football stadiums, participants will turn back and head down the long final straight Chester Road towards the finish line on Deansgate.
ADVERTISEMENT
If you’re doing the 10k though, you can basically cross off the visit to Manchester City‘s stadium and the bulk of the incline, but you’ll still head towards Trafford and Salford Quays direction before coming home.
Whether you’re doing that or the full 13.1 miles, you’ll get to pass some of the most recognisable landmarks in the area.
The 10k course
Run waves and start times
The day itself starts nice and early with the official info point opening from 7am before the first groups of runners are welcomed from 8:15am onwards.
ADVERTISEMENT
After the elite wheelchair participants set things in motion, the half marathon entrants will obviously set off first before the 10k action gets underway from 11:25. Whether lacing up on the day or cheering on a loved one, here’s when you can expect things to get going.
Now, naturally, when such a huge event with more than 30,000 runners is set to take over the city, not to mention the 100k+ spectators that are expected to line the streets on the day, it’s always going to have an impact on travel.
Those watching on the sidelines are being urged to use public transport wherever possible, with extra trams being put on throughout the day and various other arms of the Bee Network helping people get around the event.
You can also use Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) journey planner as well as their interactive travel map for the day HERE.
Meanwhile, you’ll find the full list of road closures around Manchester down below:
Assembly, bag drops, toilets and race number pick-up points
Once you’ve arrived in the city centre and getting ready for your race, coloured signs will direct participants to the assembly area. The starting points for the various waves are as follows:
Princess Street – Half Marathon – Orange wave / 10k – Orange wave and Purple wave
Charlotte Street – HM – Green wave / 10k – Red wave, Green wave and Pink wave
If you’ve brought baggage with you, the official secure bag drop is located at the main foyer of Manchester Central just between Deansgate and St Peter’s Square, which also opens at 7am. You simply need to fill in a baggage label and then you can leave your bag in the secure zone free of charge.
You should have received your race number in the post, which is needed to enter the bag drop, but if you for some reason have gotten yours or need to pick it up on the day, you’ll have to head to the info point at Great Northern (where you can also find last minute safety pins if you need them).
And regarding toilets, there will be a number of facilities made available to runners before the race along Princess Street, Charlotte St, on St Peter’s Square and near the finish line at Peter St. You will also find portaloos spread across various intervals along the running route itself.
Putting the hard yards in whilst keeping smiles on faces.
Weather (tempting fate here, we know…)
Last but not least, let’s talk weather.
ADVERTISEMENT
We promise we’re not trying to jinx it and whenever it comes to Manchester weather, take any kind of forecast with a large pinch of salt but, for now, it looks as though the weather isn’t going to be too bad – at least by our standards.
With a fairly warm morning of around 14C and highs of 17C by 1pm before starting to cool down again from 4pm onwards, you shouldn’t be too warm on the day if the Met Office has it right.
On the other hand, we’ve got to be honest with you: there is a 40% chance of precipitation whilst the runners are getting around the course with the likelihood of rain increasing into the evening – but at least everything should be all said and done by then.
After all, it wouldn’t be a truly Manc running event with a bit of rain, would it?
And that should be just about everything you need to know about this year’s Great Manchester Run and we can’t wait to see the streets packed out with homemade signs and the motivational tunes blasting.
ADVERTISEMENT
If you have any more questions or queries regarding the run, whether you’re getting stuck in yourself or just there to cheer on all the wonderful runners, you can download the official app and read the full event guide for 2024 HERE.
Good luck to everyone taking part, you’re going to smash it – and for everyone else turning up to show your support, we want to see your hands clapping and hear your voices in full force, as we’re sure they will be.
‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
🔵 Subscribe to our Manchester City page on BBC Sounds for the latest interviews. #MCFC#bbcfootball
Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Sale Sharks sign highly-rated Harlequins hooker, Nathan Jibulu
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks are investing in youth with their latest bit of transfer business after signing one of the Harlequins’ hottest prospects, Nathan Jibulu.
The highly-rated hooker, who has already nine appearances this season, including more than half a dozen in the Gallagher Premiership, has been exciting plenty of scouts throughout rugby union and is already firmly in national team plans.
Having already been part of the England Under-20 and A squads, not to mention impressing at club level in a relatively short space of time, it’s a big coup for Sale.
From the Quins academy to the right side of Shark-infested waters.
Jibulu joined the Twickenham-based outfit back in 2022 just a year after they won their second English championship (a full decade since their first) after previously attending Seaford College and representing nearby Wimbledon Warriors.
However, now the six-foot and seriously strong forward will be swapping the life near the capital for the North and Greater Manchester, specifically.
Set to join Sale Sharks for the 2025/26 season – scheduled to kick off in September – he’s looking like a really strong addition to their front row and a future squads to come.
Speaking to the club in an official statement, he said: “When I was younger, whenever someone asked me, ‘what team would you want to play for?’ I’d always say Sale…
“I’ve scrummed a lot with Asher [Opoku-Fordjour] and I got to know him pretty well. I always tell him how special and different he is, and I can’t wait to play with him.
“The way the club has developed him and nurtured him to become an established Premiership and England player speaks volumes about the coaching and the support that he’s getting at Sale.
“The entire front row is in the England squad, with the Curry boys too, so that tells you that someone at the club is doing something right. I looked at that and I said, ‘why would you not want to be there?’”
Still just 22 years old and having made just as many appearances for his soon-to-be former club, Sale weren’t the only ones chasing his signature.
Jibulu went on to add: “I love those games where you go toe-to-toe physically, so all of that attracted me straight away, and then speaking to people who are there already, they said all the stuff that I really like so it was a no brainer when the opportunity came about.”
As for his impending coach, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: “Nathan is really driven, he understands what he wants from his life and his career, and he knows how he’s going to get it.
“He’s a young lad but he’s incredibly mature and he’s got the game and the physical attributes to match. I’ve got no doubt he’ll play for England in the future and we’re really excited to bring him to the club.”
Currently sat seventh in the table after another at times promising but somewhat frustrating start to the year, the summer can’t come soon enough for Sale.
Danny Jones -
23rd May 2024 
