Manchester Marathon 2027

Sunday, 18 April 2027 · Manchester, United Kingdom

The weekend at a glance

The race is on Sunday 18 April 2027. Everything below about times, collection and the waves is the 2026 version, because the 2027 participant guide isn't out until the end of March. Start times and your wave colour are sent to you nearer the time.

Your number

Posted to UK entrants before the Friday. Everyone else collects on Friday and Saturday (in 2026 at the adidas store on Market Street, open from 10:00 until between 18:00 and 20:00 depending on the day)

Start

Trafford Arch, by Old Trafford. Elite waves from 8:55 in 2026, then waves through the morning

Getting to it

Metrolink to Old Trafford or Trafford Bar before 9:30, to Wharfside or Exchange Quay after

Finish

Oxford Road, outside the University of Manchester

Bag drop

Wharfside Way, 5 minutes' walk from the start area. Be there 45 minutes before your start access time

Climb

The organiser says flat and gives no figure. It's a point-to-point course

Weather

The last five race mornings ran from 1.9 °C to 11.7 °C at 9:00

Field

52,000 runners expected in 2027

On this page

1. Getting to Manchester
2. Where to stay in Manchester
3. Collecting your number
4. Race morning
5. The course
6. Weather in Manchester in April
7. Afterwards
8. Other race weekends
9. Sources

Getting to Manchester 2026 details

The airport is on the rail line into the city. Trains to Piccadilly take about 15 minutes and run several times an hour, according to Northern. Piccadilly is where the organiser wants you on the morning. So is Victoria, if that suits your hotel better. If you come in to Oxford Road station instead, walk the short way to the St Peter's Square tram stop.

Metrolink does the rest. The network has 99 stops and trams start at 7:00 on race day. Don't drive. The route closes roads right across Greater Manchester on the Sunday, and the car park at the stadium sold out in 2026 and sold nothing on the day.

For runners coming in from abroad there's a small catch. If you live outside the UK your number isn't posted, so you'll be collecting it in person on the Friday or Saturday, and that's a reason to arrive on Friday.

Where to stay in Manchester

Think about the finish first. It's on Oxford Road, on the south side of the centre, and you'll walk out of it with a medal and a bag you've just collected from a lorry. A room near there means a short walk to the shower. The start is a tram ride the other way, 10 minutes' walk from either Old Trafford or Trafford Bar.

Check the tram time from your hotel on the Bee Network site and leave room for queues, which the organiser warns of in the start area, at the toilets and at bag drop.

Collecting your number 2026 details

If you're in the UK and asked for it by post, the number arrives before the Friday. You collect in person if you chose to, if you live outside the UK or if you need a replacement. In 2026 that was on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 April, at the adidas store on Market Street, and the organiser didn't name the place until 19 March.

The 2027 collection details aren't published yet.

Race morning

The first tram runs at 7:00. Work out your arrival from your start access time, which is earlier than your wave's start. Bag drop is a separate queue and the organiser says to be there 45 minutes before that access time. If you miss your slot you can still start with a later wave, but you can't move to an earlier one.

Which station depends on the clock. Before 9:30, get off at Old Trafford or Trafford Bar and walk the 10 minutes. After 9:30 the route crosses the walk from Old Trafford, so use Wharfside or Exchange Quay instead. Everyone enters through the E2 car park at the stadium, even without a bag, and only runners are allowed in. Toilets are inside.

The bag system is point to point. You drop one small rucksack into a see-through waterproof bag, the volunteers tag it with a wristband, and a lorry takes it to the finish. Each wave has its own lorries, usually two, split into bays A, B and C. Join the shortest queue. At the finish, go back to the same lorry and bay with your wristband. Leaving your bag with a friend is quicker, because bag drop adds time at both ends.

The course

The course starts on Bridgewater Way by Old Trafford and runs out through Stretford, Sale and Altrincham. It turns back through Chorlton and comes into the centre, finishing on Oxford Road. About a mile in, along Deansgate, there's a send-off point for supporters. A friend staying in the centre can walk there and see you go past, which beats a crowded tram.

Only a route map is published, with no climb figure, and the course is described as flat and fast.

There are eight water stations and every one has toilets. High5 gels are handed out at set points, and the organiser's table of distances is on its route page. Bring your own nutrition as well, because the gels are an extra.

Weather in Manchester in April

Manchester in mid April isn't warm. These are the last five race days at Old Trafford, at 9:00 and at 13:00.

Wear something you can stand in for 45 minutes before the gun and still run in. The 2024 morning had a 20 km/h wind on top of 9 °C.

Afterwards

At the finish you get a medal and a t-shirt, and there are refreshments, medical help and set meeting points for friends. The organiser asks supporters to pick a meeting point away from the finish itself. Your bag is on the lorry you used, in the same bay.

Other race weekends

Close by, and with guides of their own, are TCS London Marathon and Brighton Marathon.

The next races with a guide

Vienna City Marathon18 April 2027 · Vienna, Austria TCS London Marathon24 and 25 April 2027 · London, United Kingdom Madrid Marathon25 April 2027 · Madrid, Spain

All race weekend guides

Sources

Written from the organiser's published information and the app's own race data, checked on 1 October 2026.

If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us.