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Manchester Marathon 2023

30 watchers

Windsor Wool Apr 2023 9:09am, 17 Apr 2023 5,884 posts	0 Windsor Wool Thanks WW - although it was tough for you, did you get a time that you'll settle for? I see you got a GFA but what was the original target? Vixx - I was around 10 mins slower than the original A target but the reality is that you can only play with the cards you're dealt on the day and I'm pretty proud of myself for getting around. btw, as we walked back to the hotel we walked across and came across the final runners. It must have been around 1pm and they were at 7->8 miles. The last competitor had a full size coach really right behind her. That must be a pretty horrible experience tbh. There was probably nobody else within 200 metres of her. I wish I'd taken a mental note of her number to check that she completed as I really hope she did....
K5 Gus Apr 2023 9:34am, 17 Apr 2023 5,726 posts	0 K5 Gus Vixx - I was thinking about your situation. You could quite easily have started with an earlier wave, it is easy to bypass the official start corals and just join the wave you want up near the start line (or you could say on your entry a faster time than you plan so they put you in an earlier wave). That would give you maybe over an hour ahead of where they were going to have you starting. Whilst it wouldn't be ideal if thousands did this, there were relay runners that we were overtaking that were a lot slower than the full marathoners they were mixed in with. The above may not sit well with you and you wouldn't want to bypass the official process, but in a way it's their own fault with going for these wave starts, meaning the runners at the back are now starting hours behind those at the front.
jda Apr 2023 9:58am, 17 Apr 2023 14,692 posts	0 jda larkim, here are multiple ~~strava~~ traces from last year and this at the ~8km turn. Last year the GPS was poor but the turn seems reliable enough. Looks to me very similar distance indeed but I wouldn't be surprised if it cost 10-20m and that's why they added a kink elsewhere. It's just a shame the kink was much (much? well, a bit anyway) longer than it needed to be!
Nelly Apr 2023 10:15am, 17 Apr 2023 4,354 posts	0 Nelly Well done all who ran yesterday, and good to see a few of you out on the course, even if my brain was too slow to recognise Gus before giving him a shout out and JDA clearly had no idea who I was when I said "well done James" (twice, but why would you given we have never met!). Re the route change, I wonder whether it was related to improving resident access(?). When you returned back onto Northenden Road after the detour, was there a conned off lane on the left over the bridge for traffic (as that would allow some residents to leave the area much earlier)?
Hills of Death (HOD) Apr 2023 10:20am, 17 Apr 2023 36,688 posts	0 Hills of Death (HOD) Did you think the route change was more hillier ?
larkim Apr 2023 10:46am, 17 Apr 2023 20,817 posts	0 larkim It can't have been hillier with the two minor deviations, unless that triangle in Sale was up and down? Peter Street does go up gently, but nothing of any note, surely?
Spanners99 Apr 2023 10:48am, 17 Apr 2023 423 posts	0 Spanners99 Thats funny as my watch also registered just under 26.5miles. My garmin is really accurate so that makes me feel I did run long. I am not bothered but was defo blowing at end and the extra distance was mentally grim. Really well supported event i think. And means the pot holes along park road have been filled (at least for next few weeks before rain washes them out). I find it hilarious the council were doing emergency road repairs on the route on friday - they would have been lethal in sections and seen quite few trips no doubt.
larkim Apr 2023 10:59am, 17 Apr 2023 20,818 posts	0 larkim (btw, sorry for being obsessive about the distance thing - it just piques my curioisity and I've been away from running related geekery for just over a week! My brain can't handle the fact that either the 2nd biggest marathon in Europe was officially measured to international standards and they added a bit extra "just for safety" (beyond the normal 42.195metres) OR they measured it with the new kink accurately to the correct distance but someone somewhere cocked up and the location of either the start, finish, or turnaround spot was incorrectly placed on the day) On the half way timing mat, I think it was the same last year. Even the official splits report (e.g. see mine here results.sporthive.com ) shows the mat as being at 13.05 miles, which is very odd. Same this year (e.g. WW's splits results.sporthive.com where they report the mat as being at 21k instead)
Vixx Apr 2023 11:08am, 17 Apr 2023 1,860 posts	0 Vixx HOD - It IS hillier now than it used to be due to that stretch as you are heading back from the M60 junction towards Chorlton, and the last mile is very gradually uphill too. The first part is more inclined in parts now too, especially coming back from the City centre. I don't think they can genuinely say it is the flattest marathon in the UK now as I think the overall incline is closer to London now. K5Gus - the wave starts are what put me off somewhat too, and was a BIG reason for me deferring 2021 and dropping down to the Half because the Half was starting first and I was still in the last start wave for that. I could not have faced starting the full marathon at 12:30pm (when my original wave would have gone) and being out there in October in the dark. To be fair, the organisers did get back to me when I messaged to say that I would have possibly an extra 20 minutes but I felt I'd be sailing a bit close to the wind anyway, and negativity got the best of me in the end. And, I genuinely have never thought about putting a faster time down! Maybe I should.
jda Apr 2023 11:30am, 17 Apr 2023 14,693 posts	0 jda It's hillier than it "used" to be, but this year was the same as last in that respect. I was also considering suggesting that Vixx jumps into a faster wave. So long as you start at the back of the wave, and are considerate when a horde comes charging past (especially when at a water station), it really shouldn't be a problem. I don't know what guidance there is, if any, about races being long. They can't be short (and are always measured at ~0.1% long to make sure). The first year I did it (2016), it seemed shockingly long - 42.67 by my measurement, though I'm not sure about my GPS precision back then. That was yet another different course and was the first year after the short course fiasco so perhaps they were being super-careful, or maybe they had to make a late change, I don't know. Fwiw the 30km mat was in a significantly different place this year compared to last. Like, 250m further up the road by my reckoning (so further than the extra distance). Some mile markers have definitely been wrong in the past too, they just aren't that reliably placed. I've blogged my experiences in some tedious detail...