The 2026 AJ Bell Great Manchester Run lands in Manchester this weekend with the UK Athletics 10K Road Championships built into the same race, turning a familiar city event into a title fight on Sunday. Verity Ockenden and Marc Scott are among the British runners set to test themselves against an international field on a course that has already delivered major results for both.
The timing is what gives the race its edge today. The championships are not being staged on a separate track or in a closed domestic race; they are happening inside one of the country’s biggest road-running weekends, with Olympic gold medallists, European champions, past winners and a defending champion all in the mix. Two will carry live coverage from 11am to 1pm, while the finish line will be streamed live on GreatRunTV on YouTube across the full event.
Ockenden knows the route now. She ran it for the first time in 2025 and said she had come from a strong block of training, though she was careful not to promise a personal best because the conditions on the day would matter. She said she loves coming back to Manchester because of the welcome and the crowds, adding that she had a brilliant time last year before fading a little in the second half and returning this time for another crack at it.
The British title race also brings its own pressure points. Ockenden said one of the best things about this year’s event is that the British Championships are folded into the race, creating a strong domestic pack that could help the runners work together. She pointed to Lily Partridge and Clara Evans as tough British marathon runners with the endurance to go the distance and said she would love to come away with a British medal. That ambition sits alongside the uncertainty she named herself: a fast time is possible, but only if the weather and race conditions cooperate.
Scott arrives with deeper history on the course. He won the Great Manchester Run in 2021 and was runner-up in 2023, and he said his form is in a good place heading into Sunday. He described Manchester as a good place to run quick, relatively flat and helped by the out-and-back section on the dual carriageway and the wide open roads that can suit elite racing.
He also underlined why this edition could be especially competitive. Scott said the field includes Morgan Beadlescomb, Selemon Brega, the defending champion, and Iliass Aouani of Italy, alongside British runners such as Andy Butchart and Mahamed Mahamed. That mix matters because the race is being run not just for a city win but for a national title, with domestic athletes trying to match the international pace while chasing the UK Athletics 10K Road Championships on the same course. The first real answer comes on Sunday, when the medals and race placings are settled in front of the Manchester crowds.
