Manchester Marathon 2021
28 watchers
Jul 2021
1:26pm, 22 Jul 2021
12,962 posts
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UltraDunc
That seems arse about face, surely they would want the longer race to start first?
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Jul 2021
3:09pm, 22 Jul 2021
4,190 posts
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Nelly
Normally I would agree with you UD, but I suspect they are trying to plan to ensure there is as little interaction between the two sets of competitors as reasonably possible for "Social Distancing" reasons. On that basis, and understanding the relative routes of the two races, I can understand the logic in starting the HM first. The half marathon route starts at about the 8.75mile mark of the marathon (as the half doesn't include the loop into the city centre), and then follows the same route as the marathon to Timperley, misses out the loop to/from Altrincham (~4.5miles), and then follows the marathon route to the finish. On that basis, the HM would have to start at least 2.5hours after the marathon for the HM leaders not to catch the 5hr marathon runners in the first 5-6miles. The majority of the HM runners would be "battling" through slower marathon runners for up to half of their race. Whereas, if the marathon starts 30mins after the last HMer starts, then the marathon leaders will likely be overtaking the HM back makers in the last 5miles, but would "only" catch anybody running slower than a ~2:50HM. The problem is defining how long it will take to start all the HMers... especially if their are additional Social Distancing requirements to previous, but noting their are likely to be considerably fewer competitors that recent years because of the clash of date. Personally, and in the absence of any other details, I'd start the HM at 8am and the marathon at 9:30am... If they start the marathon at 10:30am then the back of the pack may not start until close to noon, which gives a finish time of 6-7pm for some?!? |
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Jul 2021
3:40am, 23 Jul 2021
12,968 posts
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UltraDunc
I didn’t know that Nelly, just thought about how late it would be for the last participants to finish and what a long day for volunteers unless of course they are devising a shift pattern. I thought social distancing wasn’t required by law now?
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Jul 2021
6:06am, 23 Jul 2021
10,544 posts
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jda
Not required by law but many event organisers are still making sensible arrangements to reduce risk. Just because the govt is no longer behaving responsibly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t either.
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Jul 2021
8:32am, 23 Jul 2021
12,970 posts
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UltraDunc
It’s still quite a bit off , who knows what the next twist will be?
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Jul 2021
9:22am, 23 Jul 2021
4,191 posts
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Nelly
And that is why the organisers have said "We have plans that work in the current climate, and if some further restrictions were put in place. If we are legally allowed to, as is very much expected by all, then we are ready to go." Having thought about it a bit more, I think the reason for separating the HM and marathon runners as much as possible is congestion in the race village before/after the race as much as on the course. |
Jul 2021
11:12am, 23 Jul 2021
293 posts
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Spanners99
I am not mad for a start that late for the marathon. I know this is in autumn but preferance always to start at sensible time like 8.45am. I get what is said above being reasonable though |
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Jul 2021
9:17am, 29 Jul 2021
4,194 posts
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Nelly
The Event Director has done a pre-recorded Q&A... manchestermarathon.co.uk My main takeaway was she confirmed the half will start at 8am and the full will start at 10:20am. The exact arrangements will depend on whether we are in a COVID situation or not. In a non-COVID situation it will be the usual wave starts... "In a COVID start it would be a rolling start, so everybody would trickle out over a very long period... for a COVID situation it will take until about 1:30pm [to get everybody started]." So presuming the slower runners are the last to start then they'll be finishing after 7:30pm!?!? Not only is that far from ideal for the competitors, the slower of whom may not finish until after 7:30pm, but it will be mean road closures affecting local residents for up to 12-hours. I envisage a lot of unhappy people (and I don't blame them). Other than fairly standard waffle, my other takeaway was competitors are likely to be asked to undertake a Lateral Flow Test and complete a Medical Questionnaire before raceday. |
Jul 2021
11:58am, 30 Jul 2021
671 posts
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Rrunner
I think I may have the marathon bug back and was looking at Manchester '22. Does anybody know when the prices go up? Couldn't see anything on website...
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Jul 2021
12:28pm, 30 Jul 2021
4,195 posts
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Nelly
Rrunner, given the website says "...we are delighted to release a small allocation of Early Entries for next year..." I assume the price rise will automatically kick-in once the number of entrants exceeds a set number (500, 1,000, etc), rather than the discount be for a defined duration.
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