Manchester run and all that..

Finally back from a great weekend at Manchester for the Great Manchester Run and the City Games.

If you ever get the chance to see the City games up close, go see it! You will then see how fast these people actually run.  They need around 50 metres to slow down and they still crash into the snappers stand at the end. And the pole vault - just incredible!

For my part we had a very good photo on Friday taken on the track as it was getting built! A good bunch of the top runners were there and got into the spirit of the occasion – donning hard hats and ‘spanners’ helping with the build.

On Sunday morning, bright and very early, the sun didn’t come out but the first time in a while the ground was dry and there was no forcast of rain so happy days all round.

With some 20 plus snappers around the start, the place had a nice buzz about it with the likes of Joe Corrigan and Bobby Charlton starting one of the many waves of runners.  They were more than happy to talk to the media and have the snappers set up a ‘start’ shot on the podium.

There was, as usual, a fair smattering of celebs around. Tony Audinshaw (?) – Bob from Emmerdale – was on good form both with his running and his rapport with the crowd and media. Tony is a great guy and a bit quick on his feet when it comes to road races. In his Leukaemia research gang, brought together by Ken Lomas, are some actors from TV and theatre who run at various pace but all have a lot of fun.  It would be wrong of me not to mention Chris Chittel, - Eric Pollard- who is still pounding the streets and is seen as the ‘Daddy’ of soap star runners.

Others around were, in no particular order: Nell MacAndrew, turning into a ‘running friend’ of mine, who was running with her mum who was doing Manchester for the first time.  Peter Hook, he of New Order, was part of a great group running for Christies- local hospital in Manchester.  He looked a bit tired until he mentioned that he had been giging all week but loves the run. 

40,000 runners later we moved onto the City Sprints.  Lots of top class sprinters on a track they all agreed was a great concept and should be in other major cities – especially in the USA!

The ‘HURDLE GATE’ has been well covered but just to say it is the first time I have seen / heard of this happening and I have been  watching and covering athletics since the early 90’s.  But lets not take away from what an excellent event this is and credit should go to Manchester Cuty Cuncil and the organisers Nova who put on a great show.

CHAMBERS OPENS EUROPEAN OUTDOOR SEASON IN POWERADE GREAT CITYGAMES MANCHESTER

Great Britain's number one sprinter Dwain Chambers will make his first outdoor appearance of the year on European soil when competing over 150 metres at the Powerade Great CityGames Manchester on May 20.

Chambers faces a testing outing in Manchester competing against American Walter Dix, last year's IAAF World Championships 100 metres and 200m silver medallist, Trinidad's Richard Thompson the 2008 Olympic 100m runner up and fellow Briton Marlon Devonish.

The quality of the line up at the innovative street meeting, taking place on a purpose built straight track, will see the quartet eyeing Usain Bolt's world best performance of 14.35 seconds - set at the inaugural meeting in 2009.

With Dix believing he is in shape to attack the USA record of 14.51sec that Tyson Gay achieved at the Manchester event a year ago, Chambers could challenge the British best performance of 14.87sec in what should be a speedy encounter.

That record belongs to ageless veteran Devonish who thrives on "street dash" races posting that time in Manchester's sister event, the Great North CityGames in NewcastleGateshead last September.
 
Chambers was recently cleared to compete at this summer's Olympic Games after a British Olympic Association (BOA) regulation banning former drug offenders from representing Team GB was overruled by a binding decision announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

That ruling has refuelled the ambitions of the 34-year-old Londoner who is currently warm weather training in Jamaica and revealed earlier this week after the CAS decision he will concentrate on home soil chasing an Olympic 100 metres medal.

The meeting will also see the USA's Sanya Richards-Rossin action, she is expected to be one of the biggest challengers to take away Christine Ohuruogu’s Olympic 400m title at the London Games

Richards-Ross was stunned when beaten into third place after Ohuruogu produced an unstoppable sprint finish down the home straight in Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium four years ago.

Now her Olympic build up will see the 27-year-old superstar compete over 200m in a line up which includes Czech Denisa Rosolova the reigning European Indoor 400m title holder and Nicola Sanders who was second behind fellow Brit Ohuruogu over one lap at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.

MAKAU TO FACE GEBRSELASSIE IN BUPA GREAT MANCHESTER RUN

Reigning world marathon record holder Patrick Makau, after his shock omission from Kenya's Olympic Games team, will compete at the Bupa Great Manchester Run on May 20.

Makau will go head-to-head with Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, whose world record he broke by 21 seconds at last September's BMW Berlin Marathon, with a time of two hours three minutes 38 seconds.

The African superstars will be part of a 40,000 strong field in the IAAF Gold Label 10k race, which Gebrselassie has won on four previous occasions, and for the last three years following his first success in 2005.

Makau who, despite his credentials, was left out of the Kenyan side for the London Games in August after failing to finish in last month's Virgin London Marathon with a minor injury, is determined to rebuild his career, with Manchester a starting point.

"I went to London knowing I was already in the team for the Olympics. I therefore was not going to push myself to finish the marathon," the 26-year-old , who had originally been pre-selected, stating he was not bitter towards Athletics Kenya about his exclusion, told reporters.

"Olympics come only once in four years. Ethiopians have been training for it since January. That is a whole seven months. My recovery period is four months, and that is why I wasn’t going to run hard in London last month.

"I sacrificed a lot of races since last year for the sake of Olympics, but all that is now down the drain."

Paul Tergat, who preceded Gebrselassie as world record marathon holder and is a former Bupa Great Manchester Run champion, admitted he was shocked by Makau's exclusion from Kenya's team.


He believes Makau made the right decision to drop out in London when troubled by a leg injury which he felt would hinder his Olympic preparations and it was wrong all three candidates had to run so close to the Games.

"The selection was done in good time and the athletes selected are capable of winning medals. But they needed Makau in the team, because Olympics training is a different ball game," said Tergat, a legendary Kenyan runner.

"I was shocked that Makau is not in the team after the announcement last year that he would get a wild card to the Games after he broke the world record in Berlin."

Tergat, sending out a warning his nation's representatives will be under severe pressure, added: "I have watched Ethiopians this year and I know they can beat us in Olympics, given their longer training period."

The highly experienced two-time former Olympic 10,000m silver medallist emphasised: "We are not doubting their ability, but asking them to recover and train in three months is expecting too much in too short a time and we may not get the results that we may desire from them."

The Bupa Great Manchester Run will be celebrating its tenth staging this year after being first staged in 2003 as a legacy to the City's magnificent hosting of the previous year's Commonwealth Games