One of Manchester’s most iconic charities has announced the launch of a virtual Landmarks of Manchester 10K challenge.
We Love MCR Charity wants to help Mancunians “fall in love with our city again”.
Ongoing restrictions amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have meant that many of us have spent some time apart from our fine city and it’ll still likely be more time before mass-participation events are back in Manchester, so for everyone who wants to get fit, have a bit of fun, and re-discover the sights, We Love MCR Charity has a solution – the Landmarks of Manchester 10K.
Subject to review and providing that everything goes to plan with the easing of certain lockdown restrictions, from 29th March, people will be permitted to travel into Manchester city centre for exercise and the Landmarks of Manchester 10K allows participants to complete a circular route, taking you past some of the places where Manchester’s history was written.
Runners and walkers can have fun, get fit and, most importantly, raise some money for We Love MCR Charity.
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BIG NEWS!
Our exciting challenge starting 29th March – the 'Landmarks of Manchester' 10K! 🏃
Fall in love with our city all over again & raise money for our work ❤️
So, what are some of the landmarks you’ll be paying a visit to?
Canal Street – In the heart of the vibrant Gay Village.
China Town – To visit the Chinese Arch.
Manchester’s iconic Central Library.
The Hacienda – A chance to see the historic site.
Rusholme’s “Curry Mile”
The Pankhurst Centre – Where the Pankhursts forged the campaign for votes for women.
The Rutherford Building – Where Ernest Rutherford first split the atom.
The National Computing Centre – Where Alan Turing helped to create the first programmable computer.
The Vimto Statue – Honouring the region’s beloved purple nectar.
While the Landmarks of Manchester 10K is all about simply getting involved, having fun and raising some money, for the competitive folk among us, there’s still a chance to earn some exciting prizes.
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There will also be a competition to crown the ‘Best Selfie or Video’ submitted by a Landmarks participant while out completing the route, with the Lord Mayor of Manchester set to review the entries and pick two which best capture the spirit of the event.
The winners will bag themselves either £200 dining voucher to use on a selection of Manchester restaurants, or a £75 voucher for the for the legendary Rudy’s pizzeria.
Get creative and come up with your best ideas, costumes and moves for your selfie entries.
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“Now is the perfect time to fall in love with our city again.” Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Tommy Judge, said.
“The Landmarks of Manchester 10K route will take you past some of the most significant places in our incredible history. We’re blessed with such diverse heritage and rich scientific breakthroughs and this 10K run will help us all to uncover and celebrate our history.
“Please take part as a walker or a runner, and please raise some sponsorship for We Love MCR Charity – a great charity which I’m proud to Chair”.
We Love MCR CharityWe Love MCR Charity
The Landmarks of Manchester 10K isn’t an officially measured and registered 10K course, and participants should only run or walk it either alone, or with members of their own household / social bubble, until restrictions on this change.
Participants should always follow the current government guidelines on COVID-19 restrictions.
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Fancy giving it a go?
To enter the Landmarks of Manchester 10K, simply fill out the registration form here, or visit the We Love MCR Charity website for more information. After you’ve signed-up to the event, the charity will then send you a ‘Welcome Pack’, which includes an A3 colour map of the run, guidance on how to take part safely, and top tips for raising sponsorship.
The Landmarks of Manchester 10K is open from 29th March – 31st July 2021.
All sponsorship raised from the Landmarks of Manchester 10K will go directly to supporting We Love MCR Charity’s two current grant programmes – the ‘Manchester’s Rising Stars Fund’ and the recently-relaunched ‘Stronger Communities Fund’ – to help ambitious communities and young Mancunians keen to improve their lives as we emerge from the pandemic.
We Love MCR Charity’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund has already awarded nearly £1 million to 312 voluntary groups and charities to support over 50,000 Mancunians.
This is your chance to help support even more.
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Flashbacks: The timelapse of the Trafford Centre construction that’s gone viral
Danny Jones
The Trafford Centre might look like some decadent Roman emperor’s palace or as if it was plucked from the heart of Ancient Grecian city, but as anyone old enough to remember it’s opening and/or construction will tell you, it seems strange to think its not even been around for three decades yet.
As Greater Manchester’s and one of the North West’s most famous shopping centres full stop, the iconic attraction first began being built back in 1996, when John Major was Prime Minister, Manchester United were still Premier League champions, Britpop was at its peak and George Michael was number one.
It’s fair to say that a lot has changed since then and although Oasis might be back come 2025, The Trafford Centre and surrounding area are pretty unrecgonisable compared to nearly 30 years ago.
All told, it took approximately 27 months to erect the neo-classical epicentre of all things shopping, leisure, food and fanciness – and here’s what the process looked like:
With the initial 14 million sq ft shopping centre being completed in September 1998 following approximately 810 days of work, The Trafford Centre debuted to the Manc public and beyond.
It took more than 3,000 builders to bring the 60 hectare site to life at the peak of construction and since then the plot has only grown bigger, bolder and more ambitious over time.
Present day, it has everything from cinema screens and a mini Legoland to a Sea Life location, multiple bowling alleys and countless other forms of entertainment beyond just rows of shops and restaurants – hence why it remains busy pretty much year-round.
Back then, British celebrities, popular local names of note, politicians, dignitaries and prominent figures from the retail industry got to visit as part of exclusive preview events in the days before its launch date.
You can see the spectacle and fascination surrounding the official opening event here:
Seems surreal watching this today but the construction of the Trafford Centre was a huge moment not just for 0161 but all of the North.
But of course, the entire complex itself has seen multiple extensions over the years, including massive developments such as Barton Square and The Great Hall.
At the outset, it cost more than £600 million to build The Trafford Centre; the major renovations mentioned above which took place in 2008 cost another £100m and the Trafford Palazzo revamp around a decade later came in at around £75m.
There has and always will be lots of money put behind this intruguing monument to modern consumerism, and big brands will continue to flock to open units within the huge expanse whenever they can: some of the most recent being Archie’s, Flying Tiger, Sephora, Tiffany, Gymshark and more.
We’ll admit the aesthetic still makes us double-take from time to time (though not as much as confused Londoners visiting for the first time), but it’s not like this part of the world hasn’t boasted plenty of other curiosities in the past…
Featured Images — Charles Bowring (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group
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‘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.
Emily Sergeant -
18th March 2021 
