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Sir Mo Farah to make guest Metrolink announcements ahead of Great Manchester Run

The AJ Bell Great Manchester Run 2023 is taking place on Sunday 21 May.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 17th May 2023

Sir Mo Farah is one of the familiar voices Metrolink passengers should keep an ear out for on Greater Manchester trams this week.

With only a few days to go until the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run takes over the streets of Manchester city centre and beyond on Sunday 21 May, passengers riding on the Metrolink network this week can expect to hear some familiar voices making guest announcements in the lead-up to the big event.

Four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah will be taking over the Metrolink airwaves alongside Commonwealth Games champion Eilish McColgan to share some important advice ahead of the event’s 20th anniversary.

With Sunday set to be a busy day on the transport network, the decorated duo will be encouraging passengers to “get on your marks, get set, Mo” and plan their journeys ahead of time.

Around 25,000 runners – including Sir Mo Farah himself – are expected to take part in the event this year, with thousands more expected to line streets in support.

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Along with the incredible local support in Manchester, Trafford, and Salford, the city centre’s streets will also welcome lots of live music, charity cheering squads, and entertainment zones on hand to help runners get over the line.

With the Metrolink having several stops that are close to the start and finish lines for both the 10k and Half Marathon races, tram travel is set to be one of the most convenient ways for spectators to travel around the region – which is why Sir Mo and Eilish will also remind passengers to “touch-in and touch-out” if paying by contactless on the day of the event.

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TfGM is encouraging Metrolink passengers to “plan ahead” for travel on the day of the 2023 Great Manchester Run / Credit: TfGM

The athletic pair are the latest in a long line of famous voices to be heard across the UK’s largest tram network – with Tony the Tiger, Professor Brian Cox, Shaun Ryder, Sir Kenneth Branagh, and many others having also made guest announcements.

“We’re really excited to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Great Manchester Run, and we can’t wait to welcome people onto the network this weekend,” said Danny Vaughan, Head of Metrolink at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

“We’re also delighted to have Sir Mo Farah and Eilish McColgan making announcements on Metrolink, and I’m sure our passengers will enjoy hearing their voices in the lead-up to what is a brilliant event.”

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TfGM has also confirmed that significant road closures will be in place to accommodate the Half Marathon and 10k races this Sunday, and dedicated travel advice for competitors, spectators, and the wider travelling public has already been released.

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Passengers are strongly urged to plan any journeys on Sunday in advance, with the information and advice on the TfGM website here.

Featured Image – TfGM

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Manchester ranked among the worst UK cities for throwing away food at Christmas

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A new survey has ranked Manchester among the worst cities in the UK when it comes to throwing away leftover food at Christmas.

If there’s one thing we know for certain, it’s that a lot of food gets consumed during Christmas time, but unfortunately, what then comes along with that, is a lot of food getting thrown away too – with a new study revealing that British families are expected to bin nearly £300 million worth of festive food this year alone.

And sadly, Manchester has been named one of the top festive food waste hotspots.

Ahead of the festive season, leading electricals retailer, AO.com, is on a mission to help Brits cut back on their food waste, as 54% of Mancs have admitted to chucking out leftovers.

The survey found that, on average, a British family spends £136 on their Christmas food shopping, but 11% of that goes to waste.

This equates to a whopping £292,822,360 in Christmas food waste in total this year.

With almost 78% of survey respondents saying they would prefer to have their meals at home during the Christmas period, rather than dining out, the research uncovered that a quarter of Brits often throw away their Brussels sprouts, while one in 10 even admitted to binning everyone’s festive favourite, pigs in blankets.

Manchester has ranked among the worst UK cities for throwing away food at Christmas / Credit: Freepik | Flickr

Other northern cities ranking alongside Manchester in the not-so-coveted list of highest festive food waste offenders include Newcastle and Sheffield.

The capitals of London, Edinburgh, and Belfast also feature.

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The news that Manchester has been named a festive food waste capital comes after a shocking study, also by AO, revealed back in August that Mancs throw away more than £1,000 of ‘freezable’ food every year too.

Featured Image – gpointstudio (via Freepik)

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Tyson Fury says he hasn’t spoken to his wife in ‘three months’ whilst preparing for Usyk rematch

Danny Jones Danny Jones Tyson Fury hasn't spoke to his wife Paris for three months preparing for Usyk 2 rematch

Tyson Fury says hasn’t spoken to his wife Paris for three whole months while preparing for the much-anticipated Oleksandr Usyk rematch.

The Manc fighter is set to face the Ukrainian counterpart in the ‘Undisputed’ sequel, simply dubbed Fury vs Usyk 2, which will result in one unified heavyweight champion of the world.

Usyk’s victory over the Wythenshawe-born boxer back in May saw him take that title for the first time since 1999 (the only man to have done so in the four-belt era) but with the rematch nearly upon us, Fury could be set to steal that title away from him.

With that in mind, the pressure has clearly been on ever since he lost the first bout and, according to Tyson himself, he hasn’t spoken to his wife Paris Fury for virtually a quarter of a year as part of his immensely strict training camp.

Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the match this weekend, he claimed: “I haven’t spoke to Paris in three months – not a word. [I’ve] not spoke to anyone, I haven’t been on my phone.”

Explaining that he simply removed all distractions to get his head in the right space ahead of the title decider, ‘The Gypsy King’ has been known to isolate himself from the rest of the world before a big fight in the past, but cutting contact with your spouse of 10 years and partner for nearly two decades is wild.

The 36-year-old went on to detail that in order to give himself the best shot at winning, he couldn’t keep switching between “beast mode to dad mode to wife mode” and so on.

In separate interviews with other outlets ahead of the highly-awaited rematch, Fury has made various other big claims about what boxing fans can expect from his own performance, including an admission that he needs to be “more focused this time and not do as much showboating” in the ring.

Nevertheless, he also assured the media that he isn’t a quitter and has promised he will not just “f*** up” his 37-year-old opponent but “retire” him. Usyk, on the other hand, has warned he will be a different challenge than the last time the two faced each other, predicting a knockout victory too.

Having downed Tyson more than once the last time around, he’s understandably confident of his chances.

Bold words from the pair of them, indeed, but this is all just part and parcel of the usual pre-fight build-up; all we really know is that Usyk won the previous face-off and Fury is the one with the point to prove.

While younger brother Tommy Fury recently had to pull out of his scheduled fight against Darren Till, during which tensions seriously boiled over during the first press conference, it looks as though there is no risk of more cancellations and any more ‘will they won’t they?’ antics between these two at least.

The rematch, or ‘Fury vs Usyk 2: Undisputed’ to give use its full title (the latest in Saudi Arabia’s growing fight scene and live sports programming as part of Riyadh Season) takes place this Saturday, 21 December, with the two set to clash once again from 10:25 GMT.

Who do you think will emerge victorious from this one and, more importantly, when do you think we’ll see the third and ‘final’ fight when they inevitably demand a trilogy?…

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Featured Images — paul62_2017 (via Flickr)/Netflix (via screenshot)

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