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.
The most magical Christmas displays have now landed at one of the North West’s best garden centres
Emily Sergeant
Christmas has officially arrived at one of the best garden centres in the North West, and it’s just as magical as you’d hope it would be.
Just outside of Greater Manchester in the village of Glazebury in Warrington, you’ll find Bents Garden and Home – a multi award-winning destination garden centre that’s often voted one of the region’s best. It’s great place to visit all year round, but as anyone who has ever made the trip there will tell you, this place really comes alive during the festive season.
Bents first started out life all the way back in 1937, when Alfred and Margaret Bent began growing and selling roses in the front garden of their terraced house in Glazebury.
Ever since then, the business has gone from strength to strength – opening its first dedicated garden centre building in the early 1950s, and then undergoing several expansions in the 60 years that followed to create the place we know and love today.
A place that’s home to everything you need to kit out your home and garden, several cafes and restaurants, a food hall, a cook shop, a children’s boutique, and plenty more.
Christmas has arrived at Bents Garden and Home for 2026 / Credit: The Manc Group
And then at Christmas time, you can also get to wander around all the magical festive displays and stop for a bite to eat at the winter food markets.
Christmas at Bents originally began in the 1970s, establishing what would become one of the garden centre’s most successful – and favourite – times of the year, with people travelling in their thousands from all across the North West to visit, making it an annual tradition in the festive events calendar for many families.
With a jaw-dropping display to suit everyone’s festive decor tastes, Christmas at Bents really does need to be seen to be believed.
Expertly decorated trees form the centrepiece of each display, with all the baubles and decorations adorning them for sale by the side for you to recreate yourself at home.
Walking around the centre, you’ll also find every type of artificial tree (both normal and pre-lit), an array of fairy lights, wreaths, and garlands, before you arrive at what is sure to be one of the best Christmas Lemax Model Village set-ups you’ve probably ever seen.
A trip to Bents is an annual festive tradition for thousands across the North West / Credit: The Manc Group
Then, once you’ve filled your basket up with all the decs you need, you have to stop off at the Winter Food Markets before you head home.
There’s a wide array of different street food options to choose from like bratwursts, giant filled Yorkshire puddings, loaded fries, nachos, mac and cheese, crepes, churros, and build-your-own crumble, before taking a pew in one of the little wooden huts and washing it all down with festive-themed hot chocolates and mulled wine.
Don’t forget to stop off at the food hall, farm shop, and deli counters to stock up on plenty of goodies there before you leave too.
Basically, if you’ve never been to Bents before, we honestly cannot recommend it enough – even more so during Christmas time.
Don’t forget to stop off at the Winter Food Markets before heading home / Credit: The Manc Group
But it is really important to note that it does get very busy here, especially on weekends and at peak times like the run up to Christmas.
So you may have to be prepared to patiently wait for parking spaces and cooperate with your fellow shoppers, as well as join queues at the cafes and restaurants, all while respecting the hard-working staff at all times.
Let’s be as respectful as possible, and make this a place where everyone can enjoy a magical festive experience in 2026.
Meet Larishka – the DJ making her mark on Manchester’s Garage scene
Emily Johnson
It’s time to meet Larishka – Audio North’s Artist of the Month for October.
For Larishka, music has always been around her in some form. Growing up surrounded by classical and rock music, she never expected her route into electronic music to begin with a Parklife set from Carl Cox, before eventually becoming a DJ, promoter, and co-owner of Manchester’s Ghosts of Garage.
Today, she runs events, DJs across House, Garage and Bass, and is helping build a community around one of Manchester’s most exciting electronic music brands.
From promoter to DJ
Larishka actually started out as a promoter while doing an apprenticeship at a music booking agency. She always knew she wanted to work on the events side rather than bookings, but felt like she wasn’t going to make many connections within the industry while living in Oldham.
Her plan was to go to university to study music, with the hope of learning to produce while also moving into Manchester and making connections within the city’s music scene.
Quite quickly into her studies, she joined Ghosts of Garage. After about a year, she had something of a lightbulb moment.
Meet Larishka, the DJ making her mark on Manchester’s Garage scene / Credit: Supplied
“I was studying music, I run my own nights, and I was always on the aux at house parties, so why have I not learned to DJ yet?” she explained.
That realisation came while she was sitting on MATTIK’s living room sofa, where she asked if he would teach her. Before long, she was calling him every day asking if they could go to the studio and practise mixing.
“I owe it to him really, he was a brilliant teacher.”
“I get it” – the Parklife moment that changed everything
Larishka’s introduction to electronic music wasn’t exactly the traditional one.
“I grew up on classical and rock music – my dad was a sound engineer in the 70s so that was his thing really, and my mum played the piano every single day so that’s what I was constantly around.”
She first heard house music when she was around 15 or 16, after a friend sent her a track they had found on SoundCloud.
“I listened to it out of my phone and didn’t really get it, it was too repetitive.”
A few years later, everything changed. After hearing Parklife from her window every year growing up, Larishka eventually went to the festival for the first time and watched Carl Cox close The Valley. He played ‘Finder’ by Ninetoes, and it was the first time she had experienced electronic music on a huge sound system.
“I remember being in absolute awe and turning to my friend and saying ‘I get it’ and from then, I was just absolutely hooked.”
It became a genuine turning point.
“I had my A Level exams that following week and when I was revising all I was listening to was house music and I remember my Dad coming in and saying ‘Is this you forever now?’ and I said ‘Yeah I think it is'”.
Larishka is Audio North’s Artist of the Month for October / Credit: Supplied
Why Manchester means so much
“I mean it’s home, and always has been.”
Having become part of the city’s music scene, she says she feels incredibly lucky to have found a community around her.
“There’s a certain camaraderie that exists here that I don’t know that you’d find anywhere else.”
For her, that sense of community is what makes Manchester’s music scene so special.
“Seeing people you know everywhere you go, you kinda feel like you’re never alone and that you’re actually part of something.”
That spirit extends beyond electronic music, too.
“And it’s not just in electronic music either, that spirit exists across all genres – Manchester music history is so rooted across such a broad spectrum of genres, and to see that still prevailing today is something we should all be proud of.”
Building Ghosts of Garage
It’s impossible to talk about Larishka’s journey without talking about Ghosts of Garage.
She’s a co-owner of the brand, having joined in 2021, and works across its marketing, bookings and creative direction alongside Rich Reason. For her, one of the biggest things that makes a Ghosts of Garage night stand out is its commitment to the music.
“The music and lineups truly never miss, which is a credit to Rich. The guy knows how to program a lineup.”
The team makes a conscious effort to champion new talent, often including at least one Manchester or UK debut on a lineup.
“A big part of each event is making them unique while keeping the brand consistent – each event has to have its own USP or else the nights get boring and people think they can just skip this one and go to the next and it’ll be the same.”
For Larishka, music has always been around her in some form / Credit: Supplied
Community is a huge part of the brand.
“We’re also big advocates of community and want to create the gap between audience and DJ as little as possible, so try to get the crowd involved as much as possible through things like our WhatsApp community.”
The aim is to make people feel like buying a ticket means becoming part of something bigger.
“We want people to feel like if you buy a ticket for our event, then you’ve unlocked a key to be part of something.”
Larishka’s advice for getting into Manchester’s music scene
For anyone hoping to break into Manchester’s music scene, Larishka’s advice is simple – go out.
“I’m way more likely to book you if we’ve met and we’ve had a good chat because it means I can put a face to a name and I know what you’re like.”
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For her, being part of the community is about more than simply sending messages and asking for opportunities.
“Being an active member of the community means you’re already part of the night, so booking you to DJ just makes you even more part of it than you already are, rather than someone I’ve never met before who’s in my DMs.”
Ultimately, it comes back to the same thing that has shaped so much of Larishka’s own journey – showing up, meeting people, and becoming part of something.
Danny Jones -
10th April 2024 
