Marc Scott Targets 2026 Great Manchester Run With Manchester Half Marathon 2026
The manchester half marathon 2026 weekend is bringing the UK Athletics 10K Road Championships into the 2026 AJ Bell Great Manchester Run in Manchester, with Marc Scott and Verity Ockenden both set to race on Sunday. Two will carry live coverage from 11am to 1pm, while GreatRunTV on YouTube is scheduled to stream the finish line across the full event.
Marc Scott Returns To Manchester
Scott arrives with the clearest recent form line in the field. He won the Great Manchester Run in 2021 and finished runner-up in 2023, giving him two recent results on the same course before another Sunday start.
“I’ve had good success here in Manchester. It’s got a good course to run quick as well, which also helps bring some good elites. I managed to take the win in 2021 and I was a runner up in 2023. I’m feeling good. The shape’s in a good place, so I’m looking forward to Sunday.”
He also pointed to the course itself as a reason the race has drawn a deep field. “I think any race you go to, if you know the course, the little ups and downs, twists and turns, I think that does help. And for those that don’t know, Manchester is a good course to run quick. It’s relatively flat so you get the out and back on the dual carriageway, nice open wide roads help as well.”
Verity Ockenden Eyes A Medal
Ockenden comes in as the current UK Athletics 10 Mile Road Champion and a runner who already has one lap of the course in the bank. She ran the route for the first time in 2025 and said she is back to try to improve on that effort.
“I’ve come from a really great block of training, which I would love to say will give me a pb, but obviously it always depends on the conditions on the day. So I’ll just give it my best and we’ll see,” she said at the Great Manchester Run media event at the Manchester Regional Arena.
She also welcomed the chance to race in a championship setting. “One of the best things I think about this year’s race is that it’s incorporating the British Championships, so I know there’s going to be a lot of really strong British runners. We should have a good pack, which means we’ll work well together and hopefully help each other to some good performances. We’ve got Lily Partridge and Clara Evans, both of whom are incredible British marathon runners. Definitely they’re going to have the endurance to go the distance and we’ll just see if I can keep up with them. I personally would love to come away with a British medal.”
Great Manchester Run Field
The elite lineup adds Morgan Beadlescomb, Selemon Brega, Iliass Aouani, Andy Butchart, Mahamed Mahamed, Lily Partridge and Clara Evans. Brega returns as the defending champion, while the British names give the race a domestic layer that sits alongside the international pace.
That combination is the point of the weekend’s setup in Manchester. The 10K Road Championships sit inside a race that also brings a live broadcast window on Two and a full finish-line stream on GreatRunTV, so the same course will serve elite championships and a wider race audience at once.
