Manchester Marathon 2025
Manchester, home of Oasis and the location for my second attempt at a first marathon after injury put a stop to the first effort. This time training went well, until I got ill and was forced to stay in bed for most of March. But not wanting to drop out a second time, I was just going to have to roll with it and take my time.
I arrived at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium with no real aspirations and just hoping to get through it. So I felt right at home given United’s recent form.
In a rare occurrence for Manchester, the sun was already beating down before my wave even began, which was going to make a difficult job even trickier.
The route twisted through Trafford, making its way down to Atrincham, before coming back through Sale. Spectators packed the way throughout the route, but there were even more people lining the streets in the towns with areas near pubs proving very popular for some unknown reason. At one particular point, the crowds were 5 deep on each side of a narrow point, and runners were passing 3 wide through a tunnel of noise. I couldn’t help but smile at this point despite the suffering, and this gave me a second wave of energy.
The route had apparently changed this year, finishing on Oxford road outside Manchester University. The final stretch was a wall of noise with spectators clapping, shouting and banging on the advertising boards.
What an experience that was!
Thanks to everyone at the club who offered advice and Mark M and Josh W for long training runs in the build up.
Matlock was represented by Ben and I (Tom), running our first marathons plus Ian running his first race in Matlock colours! All great efforts given the hot conditions, but especially Ben’s sub 3 hour.
Ben Meakin – 02:58:06
Ian Pitkin – 03:48:35
Tom Palfreyman – 04:31:54
