The Race: Great Run Manchester Half Marathon
Who we ran with: lululemon
How far did we go? 13.1 miles
Plodded upon: Roads, all closed too!
What did we wear:
- Bra – lululemon Energy
- Top – lululemon Swiftly Tech Racerback
- Leggings – lululemon Fast and Free
- Shoes – On Stratus for H and On Cloud Flow for E
- Watch – Garmin forerunner 945
Where’d we go?
The race kicked off on Portland Street in the centre of Manchester. We then headed off along the A57(M) aka Mancunian Way out towards the Etihad Stadium, before taking a sharp U-turn and looping back on ourselves to near where we started, adding on a little more to land ourselves at Old Trafford. Finally, we made another U-turn back to Manchester city centre where we finished on Deansgate.
We LOVED…
The array of emergency runners taking part. We saw multiple firefighters in full uniform including heavy helmets and oxygen tanks. We also saw a whole paramedics team running in scrubs whilst carrying a stretcher.
We Struggled…
If we are brutally honest it is not the most scenic route. It is very industrial and the out and backs can be a little demoralising.
Why this Race…
There were over 30,000 runners between the half marathon and 10km option, and it was supported by our lululemon a team.
Famous Faces…
Hellen Obiri – 5,000m world champion
Steph Twell – Team GB in the 2008 and 2016 Olympics
Stanley Biwott – 2015 New York City Marathon and 2012 Paris Marathon winner
Mid run Brainwave…
We remembered that Strava was currently running a challenge called the ‘final mile’ where during either a half marathon or marathon your last mile had to be the fastest. As this race was part of our Race to the Stones training our pace was a little more casual than normal, so we signed up to the challenge halfway through the run. Sadly our first mile was still the quickest! Oops!
Rocket Fuel…
Just a little squeeze of Pic’s peanut butter and some water.
Number 1 Fan…
Lululemon! Not only did they kindly provide us with spaces for the race but they also set up a cheer station which you ran through at mile 8 and mile 12.
