Manchester, United Kingdom · 42.195 km road marathon
Manchester Marathon 2027
Sunday 18 April 2027
Billed as the UK's flattest major marathon, point to point from Old Trafford out to Altrincham and back to Oxford Road on the 2026 route; 2027 public places are sold out.
Manchester Marathon at a glance
- Start
- 09:00 first wave (2026), Trafford Arch at Old Trafford, entered through the E2 car park
- Finish
- Oxford Road, outside the University of Manchester
- Course
- Point to point on closed roads with long straight sections (2026 route)
- Elevation
- Between 24 and 48 m above sea level
- Time limit
- Six hours from your own start; roads reopen in stages, so hold about 8 min 30 per km
- Cut-offs
- None published; runners who fall behind may be asked onto the sweep coach or the pavement
- Entry
- Public places sold out; charity places and a guarantee for unsuccessful London 2027 ballot entrants remain
- Bib pickup
- 2026: UK packs posted; adidas Market Street Fri 10:00 to 20:00, Sat 10:00 to 18:00; none on race day
- Getting to the start
- Trams are busy: later waves should use Wharfside or Exchange Quay; bags are carried to the finish
- Aid stations
- Eight water stations, gels at selected ones (2026)
Checked against the organizer's pages on 16 September 2026. Facts for the next edition can still change; the organizer's page is the final word.
Manchester Marathon course map and elevation
Point to point on closed roads with long straight sections (2026 route). Map, elevation profile and 3D flyover.
› running direction two lines: out and back on the same road race kilometresCourse: TrailSplits reconstruction; map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Route drawn by TrailSplits from published race information; approximate. For illustration, not navigation.
What to expect on the course
- In 2026: into town to a turn near Deansgate at about km 2, then back past Trafford Bar and the cricket ground at km 6 to 7
- South-west through Stretford at about km 9 and Sale at about km 12 to Timperley at about km 17
- A loop through Altrincham town centre at about km 19 to 21
- Back through Timperley, Brooklands, Sale Moor and Sale, then Stretford again at about km 33
- Chorlton at about km 35 and Hulme at about km 39 before Oxford Road
The map follows the 2026 course from the Trafford Arch to Oxford Road; the organizer will publish the 2027 route later in the year.
Read the full course description
A point-to-point on closed roads from the Trafford Arch beside the Old Trafford stadium to Oxford Road outside the University of Manchester, about 3 km from the start. The route first heads into town and turns near Deansgate at about 2 km, comes back past Trafford Bar and the cricket ground around 6 to 7 km, then runs south-west through Stretford at about 9 km and Sale at about 12 km. It reaches Timperley at about 17 km, loops through Altrincham town centre around 19 to 21 km, returns through Timperley and Brooklands at 24 to 26 km and passes Sale Moor and Sale again at 28 to 30 km. Stretford is crossed a second time at about 33 km before Chorlton at about 35 km, Hulme at about 39 km and the finish on Oxford Road. The organizer calls it the UK's flattest major marathon with long straight sections and publishes no metre figure; the 2026 reference trace stays between about 23 m and 49 m above sea level, with eight water stations and gels at selected stations.
Source, licence and file
TrailSplits reconstruction of the published route. Course: TrailSplits reconstruction; map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL · original source · Download reference GPX (42.3 km in the file). Approximate terrain-model heights added by TrailSplits, sampled and smoothed at roughly 100 m intervals. Buildings, bridges and small road gradients are not surveyed road elevations.Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved.
Three decisions to make before race day
Have your bib in hand by Saturday evening
In 2026 UK packs were posted to arrive by Friday and everyone else collected at adidas Market Street by Saturday 18:00, with nothing on race day. Be in Manchester, or at a UK address, before then, and check the 2027 pack page.
More detail
In 2026 UK packs were posted to arrive by the Friday and everyone else collected at adidas Market Street on Friday 10:00 to 20:00 or Saturday 10:00 to 18:00, with no packs issued on event day. Book travel so that you are in Manchester, or at a UK delivery address, before the Saturday closing time, and check the 2027 pack page when it appears because the venue and hours may change.
Declare a predicted time you will actually run
Your predicted time sets your wave: you can drop back but not move up. Six hours count from your own start, so a late wave costs no time, only a warmer day; in 2026 waves ran 09:00 to 11:30.
More detail
The bib colour fixes your wave from the predicted time entered at registration; you may drop back to a later wave but cannot move forward, and in 2026 waves ran from 09:00 to 11:30 in ten-minute steps. Because the six hours count from your own start, a late wave does not cost finish time, but it means a later, warmer day and a start-process window that opens about 55 minutes before the gun, with bag drop 45 minutes before that.
Plan the day around two places 3 km apart
You start at Old Trafford and finish on Oxford Road about 3 km away. Decide on bag drop or a supporter, meet near the university, and expect busy trams: later waves are asked to use Wharfside or Exchange Quay.
More detail
Everyone enters the start area through the E2 car park at Old Trafford, bags are dropped on Wharfside Way and carried to the finish, and the finish on Oxford Road is about 3 km away in the city centre. Decide before race morning whether to use the bag drop or hand belongings to a supporter, and agree a meeting point near the university rather than at the stadium; the organizer warns that trams are busy and asks later waves to use Wharfside or Exchange Quay.
Your race-day sheet
Even elapsed splits for 42.195 km. All clocks are local to Manchester.
ESTIMATED FINISH
13:00:00
MOVING PACE BUDGET
5:34/ km
ELAPSED PACE
5:41/ km
120 min below the modelled finish limit
| Distance | Elapsed | Local clock |
|---|---|---|
| 5 km | 00:28:26 | 09:28:26 |
| 10 km | 00:56:53 | 09:56:53 |
| 15 km | 01:25:19 | 10:25:19 |
| 20 km | 01:53:45 | 10:53:45 |
| Halfway | 02:00:00 | 11:00:00 |
| 25 km | 02:22:12 | 11:22:12 |
| 30 km | 02:50:38 | 11:50:38 |
| 35 km | 03:19:05 | 12:19:05 |
| 40 km | 03:47:31 | 12:47:31 |
| Finish | 04:00:00 | 13:00:00 |
Training plan for Manchester Marathon 2027
A free week-by-week plan dated to this race. It starts from a stated default (weekly distance, longest recent run, days a week) that you can change; nothing is read from your watch or training history. It does not use the finish-time target above.
View my training planNo account required. Keep a fixed copy, download the calendar or get a subscription URL for Google or Apple Calendar.
Entry, bib pickup and rules
- Entry:
- Public places sold out; charity places and a guarantee for unsuccessful London 2027 ballot entrants remain
- Bib pickup:
- 2026: UK packs posted; adidas Market Street Fri 10:00 to 20:00, Sat 10:00 to 18:00; none on race day
Read the full entry and pickup rules
Places are released first come, first served in tiered price allocations with no ballot; the 2027 release ran in stages from 19 to 21 April 2026 for 2026 finishers, the priority list and the public, and the organizer now says the 2027 event is at capacity with public places sold out. The remaining routes are official charity places and a guarantee for unsuccessful London 2027 ballot entrants; entry prices are not published on the pages checked. In 2026 UK entrants had the pack posted to arrive by the Friday, while overseas runners and those who opted to collect picked it up at adidas Market Street, 52-56 Market Street, on Friday 10:00 to 20:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 18:00, with no packs available on event day; the 2027 arrangements are not yet published.
Sources
Checked 16 September 2026; next review due 2026-10-27. Event facts come from the organizer; the pacing sheet, decisions and plan are TrailSplits' own. Independently prepared by TrailSplits, not endorsed by the organizer.
What each source confirms
- 2027 entry announcement: The 18 April 2027 date, the staged first-come release with tiered allocations and no ballot, the capacity and sold-out status, charity places, the London ballot guarantee and the notice that more details follow later in the year.
- 2026 event overview: The Trafford Arch start with E2 car park entry, the Oxford Road finish, the districts on the route, the Deansgate pass at one mile, the flat-profile description and the 2026 elite start from 08:55. 2026 facts, not 2027 confirmations.
- 2026 participant guide (PDF): The 2026 wave table from 09:00 to 11:30, the six-hour cut-off with staged road reopening and sweep coach, timing mats, water stations, bag drop on Wharfside Way and the 2026 pack posting and collection hours. All 2026-edition facts.