The adidas Manchester Marathon is back for 2024 and the region is already getting set for thousands of Mancs to take on the annual challenge.
Not only the second-largest race of its kind in the UK but the fourth most popular in all of Europe, the Manchester Marathon welcomes more than 30,000 runners every year and even more spectators from all over the continent. We’re talking around 125,000 people lining the 26.2-mile route. Yowza.
With an unprecedented demand for places at this year’s event, which has been running rather unbelievably since 1908 (no pun intended), this year’s Manchester Marathon on Sunday, 14 April 2024 is genuinely set to be the biggest yet.
So if you’re taking part or just cheering the competitors on from the sidelines, here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 adidas Manchester Marathon.
Manchester Marathon Route, waves and timings
The 2024 Manchester Marathon map.The start line.Along the way, runners can expect to take in some of Manc’s most iconic landmarks, from Bridgewater Hall and the Beetham Tower to the Theatre of Dreams itself and many more
As with previous years, the route will start and end over in Trafford. Participants will set off underneath Trafford Arch at White City Circle, making their way past Old Trafford before heading back towards the city centre via Chorlton and Hulme.
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After reaching the city centre, runners will then head towards Stretford, passing through Sale before turning off as they approach Timperley and eventually reach Altrincham around the 16-mile mark.
The final leg of the route will take runners through Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, with Talbot Road leading you back to the finish line. For those feeling any nerves (like the runner currently writing this), you’ll be glad to know the Manchester Marathon is one of the flattest in the country.
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You can see the full breakdown of timings and coloured waves down below. You can also watch the full virtual run-through of the running route HERE.
Event Village – entry points, bag drop, toilets and more
Event Village will once again be based around the Emirates Old Trafford, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club, where participants will also be able to find entry points to the start line.
Info points, bag drops and toilet facilities will also be available around the pre and post-race complex, along with first aid tents and dedicated access routes from nearby parking spots and local transport.
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Event Village will be strictly open to runnersbetween 7:30–10:30am, operating on a one-way system, before being opened up to the thousands of supporters expected to line the streets.
You can see a full map of the area down below, including where to drop your bags and nip to the loo before you set off on your race – and don’t worry, there will be places to stop for the toilet along the route if nature is annoying enough to calls.
To help you familiarise yourself with your surroundings.
Road closures for the Manchester Marathon
The road closures for this year’s marathon include the A56 (Northbound and Southbound), with the officials set to start closing roads at 3am and begin re-opening roads from 2pm onwards after the course begins to clear.
The last closed road is expected to re-open around 8pm through Chorlton and Old Trafford towards the end of the course.
You can find further details on road closure and what other parts of Greater Manchester are set to be impacted HERE.
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Travel advice
As mentioned, road closure will obviously impact people coming in and out of the city as well as to various spots along the marathon route, so whether you’re a local or travelling in from elsewhere, it’s worth knowing where to be and where’s best to avoid too.
In a nutshell, it’s expected that public transport will be very busy before, during and after the race, but the Metrolink trams still remain the best way to get around. Bus routes will be being diverted.
People have been asked to leave their cars at home or use park and rides where possible due to all the road closures, displaced traffic and expected congestion.
It goes without saying that there will also be a significant number of road closures throughout Sunday as well. However, once again, the wonderful organisers have you covered; you can see the full list of closures HERE and they have even put together an interactive map for you to check what’s shut when:
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Public transport
People are also being advised to leave their cars at home where possible to avoid the busy roads, or to at least use the free park-and-ride services on the way into Manchester and travel to their destinations via our city’s wonderful tram network.
Metrolink will be operating a six-minute frequency on the Altrincham line with more double trams and increased capacity along various other lines too. That being said, services are expected to be extremely busy throughout the day, so if you can travel flexibly, the predicted quietest time to travel is around 4pm.
Once you’ve tapped on and tapped off, most fan corners, cheer zones and regular spots for supporters to gather together should only be a short walk away from your chosen tram stop.
New mascots, event shirts and the 2024 finisher’s medals picked by the public
This year, the adidas Manchester Marathon also welcomes on board a brand new mascot, Chester the Bee, who will join the event’s much-loved existing mascot, Manny the Bee to help bring extra cheer to the festivities on the day.
As we all know and love, Manchester has a vibrant LGBTQIA+ community and, as the organisers said in a press release, “introducing mascots that celebrate this diversity allows the marathon to reflect these identities within Greater Manchester. It’s a way to honour the unique contributions and experiences of LGBTQIA+ individuals and showcase their pride within the larger community.”
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Better still, the organisers donate £1 for every participant taking on the marathon straight to the Trafford Active Fund, which offers local groups the chance to receive a special allocation of funding to build a long-lasting sport and physical activity legacy in Greater Manchester. Money from the marathon also goes towards planting trees across the region through the Green Runner scheme.
You can also see what this year’s general public selected as the design for this year’s Manchester Marathon finisher’s medal design down below. It’s a pretty one.
Thousands of you voted on the colour of the 2024 medal. We can now reveal the official 2024 adidas Manchester Marathon medal is… GOLD! 🥇
A big thank you to Marv, Abbie, Alex and Andrew from Manchester Run Club and Chorlton Runners for revealing our 2024 medal. pic.twitter.com/yYancbt4Lr
With a record 32,000+ runners set to hit the streets of 0161 this year, we cannot wait for people all over the ten boroughs to get soaked up in the spirit of the day.
It’s genuinely one of the most wholesome dates on the calendar and we’re just praying for a sunny day to make it perfect.
It’s also estimated that the event will raise around £3.5 million for hundreds of charities, with nearly 2,000 places allocated to representatives from Alzheimer’s Society, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and The Christie. You absolutely love to see it.
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Good luck to everyone taking part on the day — you’re all going to absolutely smash it.
Stockport town centre’s first ramen spot sat above a coffee shop that we can’t get enough of
Danny Jones
If you’re a local Stockport resident or have even walked along the increasingly cultured cobbles of Underbank, chances are you’ve passed a place called Ōdiobā, but did you know that by night, its loft turns into a stylish listening bar that also serves some of the best ramen around?
Seriously: not only is it, to our knowledge, the only venue serving traditional ramen in Stockport town centre, but it’s some of the best we’ve had in years. Literally, YEARS.
Central Manchester has the benefit of being spoiled by numerous noodle masters – New Wave, Ramenshop (formerly known as Tokyo Ramen), Shogun, etc. – but we’d genuinely wager that this relative newcomer known simply as Uma is right up there with them.
In fact, it might currently be vying for the top spot itself.
We really try our best to shy away from the most ultimate of superlatives where we can, especially because we’re lucky enough to come across so many culinary gems and new restaurants all the time, but the more we’ve revisited this place, the more we’re convinced it’s utterly brilliant.
On a personal note, in a post-Cocktail Beer Ramen + Bun world, we feel like we’ve come very close to finding a new go-to that’s on a par with the late, great CBRB; perhaps we’ll never quite get there, or maybe we’re falling victim to the rose-tinted lens of nostalgia, but Uma is at least in the conversation.
Something we can say for sure is that they’ve gone with the tried and tested method of doing just a few things extremely over trying to cater to everyone.
Offering a small but stunning menu, with just three small plates and three options when it comes to ramen, each one is well-balanced and portioned, guaranteeing a filling bowl of ramen finished with great quality toppings.
You’re not left needing a single noodle more, nor do they cut you a single spring onion shy – but let’s be honest, this cuisine also leaves you craving more broth.
This might be a small thing, but we even like how the deep bowls come with built-in grooves/utensil holders for you to rest your spoons and chopsticks in. It’s only a little extra, we know, but it’s a nice touch, nevertheless.
Having now done a couple laps of the menu over the course of just a handful of visits, there are few taste bud journeys as satisfying as those gently-seasoned edamame beans, with the vibrant, lightly-acidic pickled daikon radishes and cucumber cutting through, before the savoury bomb of those mains.
And above all else, it’s the broth. My word… that broth.
Most impressively of all, perhaps, is that while we were expecting to enjoy the shoyu or red miso option the most, it’s the vegan ramen that we found to be the most flavourful.
The white miso and vegetable soup base is about as rich as you could hope for from any broth, as are the surprisingly satisfying slices of sweet soy tofu.
The smell of this freshly-charred chashu. Wow. The ideal thickness – great, minimal chew, too.Is Stockport town centre’s first ramen spot also one of the best in Greater Manchester right now? It might just be. (Credit: The Manc Eats)
Put simply, this particular bowl truly puts the Uma in umami.
It really is perfect as is, complemented by the shitake mushrooms, mustard greens, bamboo shoots and aromatic roasted sesame.
However, we honestly believe we have mastered a flawless order: choosing the vegan bowl and then adding pieces of chashu pork, a gooey ramen egg and maybe some chilli oil for good measure.
Try it for yourselves and tell us we’re anything other than absolutely bang on.
As for the space itself, you’ll struggle to find another spot as simultaneously casually aesthetic and atmospheric as the top floor of this building.
It’s well worth a visit to try the sophisticated selection of cocktails co-curated by founder Nam Tran – who first won over foodie fans with his conveniently self-titled Vietnamese venue in Ancoats, which sadly closed in 2024 – or sample his handmade hi-fi system alone, but the bonus of ramen takes the cake.
With DJ sets from the man himself as well as other selectors and artists, not to mention jazz nights and other live music during the week, it’s an effortlessly cool couple of floors that just so happens to serve some of our favourite food to the highest order.
Now, we will confess that we’ve only seen Ōdiobā in its ‘shadow self’ form, for lack of a better phrase, and are yet to sample the artisan café side of this business, but we assure you that it is a failure on our part and one we’ll be making up for as soon as possible.
Let’s just say, if the coffee is as good as the other liquids we’ve drunk here, be it the booze or the very last drop of broth from the bottom of the bowl, it’s probably some of the best in Stockport.
You can guarantee we’ll be coming back to this place time and time again whenever we visit the borough.
First look at Albert Square as Manchester Christmas Markets return to their spiritual home
Thomas Melia
Manchester Christmas Markets are back and all our Christmas wishes have come true, as its spiritual home Albert Square joins in on the festivities for the first time in six years.
Grab a mulled wine, toast yourself a marshmallow and take a seat, because we’re going to take you on a quick tour of this brand-new offering.
You’ll be able to tick off your Christmas Markets wish list in one place, as Manchester has got all your usual favourites and so much more taking place right here outside of its iconic Town Hall.
As soon as you walk in you’re greeted by a huge sign spelling out the city’s iconic abbreviation ‘MCR’, just in case you forgot where you were, that also doubles as a nice photo opportunity.
Albert Square in Manchester city centre is getting into the Christmas spirit for the first time in six years / Credit: The Manc Group
As you walk into Albert Square there’s a mix of nostalgic wooden huts and brightly coloured modern street food vendor stations waiting to tempt you with all their tasty treats.
There’s no messing around at this Christmas hotspot because not even 10 feet after you enter, you can warm up with a glühwein and bratwurst, yes please.
Think you’re done sampling some festive feasts? Think again as there’s a marshmallow toasting station, a roasted chestnut cart and lots of huts are offering their own hot chocolate creations.
Local street food vendor Rita’s Reign has made her mark in Albert Square too, serving up her foodie feasts with a seasonal spin such as the ‘Festive Feast’ and ‘Christmas Crunch’ combo boxes.
Rita’s Reign is just one of many food vendors at Manchester Christmas Markets / Credit: The Manc Group
As you keep making your way round there’s some lovely gifts and trinkets to browse including tree decorations, ornaments and some vibrant pieces of art.
There’s plenty of ways to keep the kids (and big kids) entertained with some carnival-themed games and stalls as well as a vintage carousel, if that doesn’t get you in the Christmas spirit what else will?
Of course, there’s even more food to mention like mini dutch pancakes, toasted sandwiches, French toast, the list is endless (Much like many of our Christmas lists).
And we couldn’t finish our visit without acknowledging the elephant in the room, also known as The Manchester Big Wheel, which is the perfect people-watching spot, but maybe hop on this ride before you try all the tasty treats mentioned above.
Danny Jones -
10th April 2024 
