Greater Manchester Marathon 2020

36 watchers

jomo_richmond Mar 2020 3:37pm, 18 Mar 2020 103 posts	0 jomo_richmond I believe they said they were going to update us today, larkim.
Bazoaxe Mar 2020 3:54pm, 18 Mar 2020 16,107 posts	0 Bazoaxe At this stage there is no guarantee we will be up and running when a new date comes around. I would guess that any new dates will be held for a couple of weeks at least until we see how this is all going to work out
larkim Mar 2020 4:03pm, 18 Mar 2020 10,660 posts	0 larkim No, there's no guarantee. But London has done it, Chester half has just rearranged (20th Sept), no harm in getting the placeholder dates in place rather than being last to the party and discovering that there is too much congestion when it does come around. THey could of course offer a virtual run, medal and t-shirt and just cancel completely for this year.
Nelly Mar 2020 4:12pm, 18 Mar 2020 3,972 posts	0 Nelly larks, the the email to all competitors on Friday said “Our team are working tirelessly to ensure we can offer a further update next Wednesday 18th by 6pm.” although it wasn't specifically stated whether that would include a date. Wrt combining with the Manchester half marathon I think they'll look to avoid that if at all possible, because:- a) they'll lose quite a bit of money because of the number who will normally do both, and b) (I think) the infastructure/roads can't cope with the combined numbers (allegedly 25k marathon entrants and 15k half entrants, so even conservatively that's 25k actual runners). They had wave starts every 5-10mins on the marathon last year and the route was still constantly busy. The part of the route from Stretford to Sale is run in both directions in both the full and half, and I fear that would be overly congested, however, you staggered the starts. c) loss of sponsorship/branding opportunities at a combined event, etc... Of course, I could be proved wrong in the next 2hrs, they could combine the event... but I suspect it's most likely that they'll say they haven't been able to confirm the new date yet (in part because, as Bazo says, of the uncertainity regarding how long the current situation will last).
larkim Mar 2020 4:22pm, 18 Mar 2020 10,661 posts	0 larkim Yes, that all makes sense. But also holding two big events on the same roads in close proximity might stretch the patience of some of the locals, and they might simply find it a lot easier to get things like timing kit, barriers, policing etc in place for one day of an event, especially as some of those resources (even if we're "back to normal" by the autumn) will be stretched as all of the other postponed events start to clash with the planned autumn events. Chester does a grand job of merging the metric and the marathon, and whilst they are on a completely different scale in terms of particpant numbers, the model could work. Set the marathoners off at (say) 10am, then 11:30 launch the half, perhaps over a revised route which takes them backwards to the HM half way point, then turn around and finish with the marathoners, so a sub 90 HM runner would be running with the 3hr hopefuls. It might be a bit less pleasant for 3:30 marathoners finishing with 2hr HMers (I imagine that's where peak finishing numbers for the HM might be, and the start of a swell for the marathoners might start), but some modelling around those lines could work. Having said all that, Chester now has HM on 20th Sept with Metric / Marathon about 4th Oct, so they are showing they can hold two in close proximity - though on different road routes (assuming normal routes are in use).
Nelly Mar 2020 5:40pm, 18 Mar 2020 3,973 posts	0 Nelly It would be an interesting mathmatical modelling excercise to determine the optimum start times, factoring the need for wave starts on both races... but as I say, I suspect it won't happen.
Nelly Mar 2020 6:39pm, 18 Mar 2020 3,974 posts	0 Nelly “We’ve been busy all week putting plans in place following the postponement of the 2020 Manchester Marathon, originally due to take place on Sunday 5th April. We’re sorry we don’t have a full update for you today as we originally hoped, but the good news is that we will have some exciting news to share by Friday this week. So keep an eye on your emails regarding new details.”
PK Mar 2020 8:56am, 19 Mar 2020 194 posts	0 PK I must admit I was a little peeved with the email. I completely understand if they've not been able to sort a date out, but if that's the case just tell us and provide a date for a further update. What they've done is dangle a carrot and makes it look like they know something (albeit good) but want a big reveal. I'm maybe a bit raw at the moment, but right now I don't need suspense, I need clear, concise answers.
larkim Mar 2020 9:05am, 19 Mar 2020 10,665 posts	0 larkim I'm happy to be patient to be honest, but understand the frustration.
jda Mar 2020 9:14am, 19 Mar 2020 6,746 posts	0 jda Must admit I don’t need much more excitement either. Could have just said....”we’re working on it and hope to have an update by X”.