Real runner feedback on course feel, crowd support, aid stations, and logistics (parking, hotels, restaurants).
My 3rd marathon. Well organized. Hills were very manageable and kept it interesting. Crowds were amazing!! Weather was ideal. Great to have most of the roads blocked. It was a nice PR for me. Thanks Millenium Running and Manchester!
Running twice through the baseball stadium was kinda cool! The race supports veterans and fallen military. Wonderful to support such a great cause. Very motivating.
Stayed at the Double Tree which is right at the start/finish line. Perfect!
My friend's birthday was yesterday, and she selected this event. Hilly would've scared me out. However, I really enjoyed the course. Two trips around the warning track of the local baseball stadium was a plus. The support of fallen service personnel was also well done.
Only negative was no soup left for the over 5:15 crowd.
We did a run-walk interval, adjusting slightly for the hills. The smaller race made this easy to do. We had perfect, overcast weather, so that helped us over 60 types.
Race day logistics were exceptional. We stayed at the DoubleTree, which was right at the start/finish. We took a Lyft to early packet pickup at the shoe store, but morning packet pickup by the start line would've been super easy. The later than normal start at 8:50 AM was very nice.
I'm a fan of start and finish at the same location. Stayed at the Doubletree downtown across the street. It was cold a bit hilly but manageable. Well organized an added touch was cheerleaders at the finish line. Because of the cold couldn't really enjoy the after marathon atmosphere. But that's ok, at least no rain or snow.
I believe they have race day packet pick up but I got mine at the expo. No problem
It was a decent size 450 marathoners and my 40 state. Good restaurant options downtown close to start and finish
Manchester city marathon was my first ever marathon. It has a challenging course and a huge spectator presence with a great after party atmosphere.
Do a lot of hill training you will need it for this one.
Plenty of places to stay close to race start/finish. Lots of places to eat and plenty of parking
This was a challenging, yet beautiful run with nice spectator support. It was pretty well organized, although shirts ran small and there was no way to exchange.
It may not be a great first marathon just because of the hills and a portion of the marathon is on pretty well maintained trails. Manchester City was very welcoming and was a fun, walkable place to hang out after the marathon.
Spectator friendly. If they know the course they can see particular runners in many locations. For runners, it's rolling hills with good traffic control. There are not many participants (~500) and there are sections that are very remote, and it can get lonely. The last 3 miles have a lot of annoying turns, including a switch back on a sidewalk, which at mile 24 always makes me nervous. Post race refreshments were not strong, although the hot chocolate was very welcomed.
Early November in Manchester can be cold and raw, dress accordingly.
There are some banks near downtown Manchester which don't enforce parking on Sundays. This does not appear to be a well known fact as I could easily find parking half an hour pre-race.