Manchester Marathon 2026

Yohan Lidove and Naomi Robinson won on the UK's flattest, fastest marathon course. What the 2026 race looked like, and what's known so far about entering 2027.

By Miles Ashworth · 20 Apr 2026 · 2 min read · United States edition

Runners, including a few in costume, along the 2026 Manchester Marathon route. Photo: Eirian Evans, via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

The Manchester Marathon returned on April 19, 2026, and once again lived up to its reputation as the UK's fastest course. Yohan Lidove won the men's race in 2:15:19, with Naomi Robinson taking the women's title in 2:36:56, on a route that drops just 54 metres in elevation across the full distance, officially recognised as the flattest marathon course in the UK.

That flat-course reputation hasn't come without controversy. The 2013 to 2015 races were later invalidated after officials discovered the course had been measured 380 metres short, a real embarrassment for an event that has otherwise built its identity around precision and pace. The current course has been re-measured and verified since, and nothing about that old error affects this year's results.

The Course

The race starts on Trafford Way near Old Trafford and finishes on Oxford Road near All Saints Park, tracing a route through Chorlton, Hulme, Stretford, Sale, Altrincham, Urmston and Salford before reaching Manchester's city centre. It's a genuinely residential course for long stretches, past terraced streets and front gardens rather than monuments, which is part of its appeal to the tens of thousands of runners who use it as a serious attempt at a personal best.

Runners and spectators along the Manchester Marathon route. Photo: Eirian Evans, via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Entering the 2027 Edition

The 2027 Manchester Marathon is confirmed for Sunday, April 18, but entry itself isn't open yet, the organisers currently only have a "register interest" page live, with no pricing or qualifying standards published. Runners hoping to get an early spot should sign up for notification rather than wait for a general announcement, spaces at this race have sold out quickly in past years precisely because of its flat, fast reputation.