The running boom in Greater Manchester is getting bigger every year but for lots of locals, it’s been a regular pastime for much longer and some events like this women’s trail race in Salford have been going for more than thirty years.
Jogging and road racing are one thing but trail running is a discipline all of its own and with such wonderful landscapes to traverse all over the North West let alone just the 10 boroughs, thousands get stuck into it every year.
With that in mind, 2025 marks the 33rd edition of the annual Ladies Trail Race hosted by Swinton Running Club, which sees hordes of female runners turn up to take part and, most importantly, have fun every single year.
Taking place this spring, the latest event makes use of Salford’s largest conservation area and is expecting yet another solid turnout.
Aiming to provide a welcoming space for all women, regardless of background or experience, the Ladies Trail Race gives Mancs a chance to run through some of the most stunning parts of Salford.
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The race is a single-lap course spanning five miles that passes the lake at Old Warke Dam and includes sections of Greater Manchester’s famous Bridgewater Canal as well as the beauty of Worsley Woods.
Alternating between trails, woodland terrain and sections of tarmac path, the ease of traversal does fluctuate but is still considered a very accessible level of difficulty, meaning no one should be put off.
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Having run through this particular area of Salford ourselves separate from the event itself, we can confirm it’s a wonderful route and a brilliant way to immerse yourself in nearby nature too.
Better yet, it’s a fantastic female-focused event in a space that can often feel intimidating for some.
As Swinton Runners put it, “It’s no secret that women are underrepresented in races and we want to bring women together to push their boundaries and gain a sense of achievement.”
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Credit: SRC
For context, when running-based campaign group SheRaces took a poll of 400 female runners to see if they’d be interested in a women-only race, the response was conclusive: 87% said they would – sadly the figures in
Speaking to The Manc, one of the event’s founding members, Margaret McClelland, told us: “I was there back in 1991 when we started the run.
“It was the brainchild of one of our members, Marie Henderson who found when she joined that the club, which even at the time had a high percentage of women runners compared to most clubs, that she enjoyed the camaraderie, the joy of running together with a supportive ‘family’.
“The club had hosted the ‘Women’s Own 10km’ run for a number of years […] Marie thought that we should get our own race back up again and whilst the men were very much involved it was a race for women, organised by women.
“The aim was to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for women to run, whatever their ability or goals. The first, last and everyone in between is as important as each other and for them to keep going, showing what running can do in terms of feel good, with the bonus of it not costing very much to do.”
It’s events like this and the strong base of female runners here in Greater Manchester that have helped pave the way for contemporaries like the upcoming Women’s Run Series by RunThrough to come to Heaton Park.
You can watch the 25th-anniversary video made for the City of Salford Women’s Run down below, and if you’re interested in taking part in the 2025 Ladies Trail Race, it takes place on Sunday, 4 May with a bright and early 9am start time.
The annual Manchester Remembers Foundation charity football match has shut down
Danny Jones
The annual Manchester Remembers charity football match has been cancelled for 2025, and unfortunately, the wider Foundation has also shut downfor the foreseeable.
Set up back in 2020, the Manchester Remembers charity game was created to help raise funds for the families of those lost in the tragic 2017 Manchester Arena attack, raising nearly £200,000 in donations for multiple organisations.
It has been a truly treasured community event across Greater Manchester, welcoming thousands to the likes of Manchester City Academy Stadium and Oldham Athletic‘s Boundary Park, as well as spotlighting local musicians and notable figures volunteering their help for a deeply important cause.
However, the Foundation is now set to hang up its boots. Confirming the news over the bank holiday weekend, founders Aaron Lee and Paul Corrigan shared “a difficult statement to make and a decision not taken lightly.”
— The McrRemembers Foundation™️⚽️🐝 (@McrRemembers) May 3, 2025
As explained in the lengthy and emotional post, it is with a “heavy heart” that this year’s charity match has now been officially cancelled, and tickets already purchased up to this point are now being refunded.
Having played a small part in helping spread awareness around the game and the Foundation since it began, we were gutted to learn of this sad news.
The 2025 MCR Remembers game was scheduled to take place this June at a new venue for the event, Bury FC’s home ground at Gigg Lane, but following what they have labelled “a lack of support” from Greater Manchester leaders and “influential people needed to carry the event forward.”
Lee – a former police officer turned firefighter who was one of the emergency responders on 22 May, 2017 – went on to share a follow-up video reflecting on the announcement.
As he puts in the piece to camera, he says that even if those who had been reached out to in recent times were to suddenly respond, that it is “sadly too late.”
Taking time to thank not only past sponsors, managers, ex-pros and celebrity players who have been part of the event in the past, but everyone who bought tickets to the event(s) over the past few years, stating simply: “We cant thank you enough.”
Lee, who was given both a Chief Fire Officers Commendation and British Citizen Award in 2024, went on to address those “so-called leaders and influential people” in a subsequent post, adding: “All we needed was a bit of help. But we were ignored. Thanks for the memories.”
Unsurprisingly, the comments on social media have been awash with messages of love, support and sadness upon learning of this year’s cancellation and the end of The Manchester Remembers Foundation after more than half a decade.
There is some hope, though, as he ends the video by saying, “Who knows if this is the end or not? […] I dare say we’ll be back at some point.” We can only keep our fingers crossed he’s right and the MCR Remembers charity game won’t be shut down for good.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Manchester Remembers Foundation
Sport
25,000 free footballs are being given away across the UK
Danny Jones
A total of 25,000 free footballs are up for grabs this month as part of a new scheme from Barclays, who are giving them away to mark a special anniversary.
The British multinational universal bank, which boasts over 850 branches and more than 48 million customers worldwide, has been supporting the beautiful game for a quarter of a century now and has been the primary Premier League sponsor since the 2001/02 season.
Approaching 25 years helping fund and promote English football, they’ve come up with a new initiative to celebrate, simply called the ‘Lost Ball Project‘.
We’ve all seen scenes like these before.
Credit: Barclays (supplied)
Tapping into the national and generational memory of losing a ball to a pond, up a tree, over a fence or on a roof and so on, Barclays are making up for those heartbreaking little losses – one ball at a time.
Lost Ball will see the bank give away 25k footballs across the UK, with Barclays customers able to claim a free ball for themselves or someone else who has lost theirs.
Already up and running, the scheme is off to a flyer and free footies will be available until Thursday, 22 May, so we wouldn’t wait around.
The bank has played an integral role throughout the British football pyramid for decades now, sponsoring to only the Premier League but also the WSL, Barclays Women’s Championship; the Northern Irish Women’s Football Association, Scottish Women’s Championship and the Scottish Women’s League One
They’ve even put together this emotive, albeit a bit tongue-in-cheek video:
As they put it, the mission of the Lost Ball Project is simple: “Let’s keep the nation playing the beautiful game. Because there’s no football without grassroots football.”
In addition to backing established leagues, they have continued to support the country’s footballing community at large, especially in terms of the women’s game.
For instance, the Barclays Girls’ Football School partnership with The FA has seen the number of participating schools rise from 3,000 in 2019 to 20,000 in 2024, helping more than 2.5 million schoolgirls access football.
Important work done from the ground up.
Credit: Supplied
Barclays’ Group Head of Sponsorship, Tom Corbett, said in a statement: “We are immensely proud of our pioneering work and funding to grassroots football over the past 25 years.
Giving away 25,000 balls to replace our customers’ ‘Lost Balls’ means they will never be without the one thing you need to be able to play the game we’ve supported at Barclays for all these years.”
If you bank with the group, you can find out how to claim your free football HERE.
Danny Jones -
12th March 2025 
