Great Manchester Half-Marathon, 21st May 2023

Cate Walker has been to Manchester to run a half-marathon. This is her report:

When you sign up to an event months in advance, it is always a gamble with weather conditions, and knowing Manchester’s usually grey and rainy climate I didn’t have high expectations for a bright and sunny half marathon. But this is what I got! I had done the 10k in 2019 so I knew it was a big event with lots of entertainment along the course and a buzzy (Manchester bees) atmosphere. The weather made this even more so, the atmosphere was amazing and definitely carried me along in the hot weather.c Four well managed water stations along the way also helped a lot with that. Also great was the ‘Made in Manchester’ playlist that Spotify had recommended (I had gone through this in advance and excluded a few songs, including ‘Sit Down ‘ by James which I could imagine to be too much of a temptation at 10 miles in). I was trying to complete the course in under 2 hours so went for my tried and tested approach of try to stay under 9 minute miles for as long as possible with a bit of leeway for the last 3 miles. In the end, I finished in 1:59:25 which I was delighted with, especially given the heat. Overall a fantastic experience!