A thrilling elite competition is anticipated at the Manchester Half this year, as over 70 elite runners and wheelchair athletes gear up for the 13.1-mile race.

As the 2025 England Athletics Half Marathon Championships host, the event will see GB athletes, internationals and new elites test their mettle on the flat and fast course through Greater Manchester.

Let’s look at the athletes hoping for a podium finish on Sunday 12^th October this year…

WHEELCHAIR

The podium places in this year’s Manchester Half Men’s Elite Wheelchair race will be contested by Sean Frame, Brett Crossley and Matthew Clarke. Three-time Paralympic gold medallist Lauren Rowles will take on the challenge in the Women’s Elite Wheelchair category, having recently announced her return to wheelchair racing after her sparkling rowing career.

Last year, Sean took a full 7 minutes off the Men’s Wheelchair course record (finishing in a time of 00:48:24) whilst Brett came in second.

WOMEN’S

British endurance runners and PUMA athletes Charlotte Purdue and Lily Partridge are the favourites for the Women’s title. They bring recent half marathon times of just over 70 minutes into the competition (Lily ran a recent PB of 70:27 in February, whereas Charlotte’s PB a year prior is 68:02). Both British champions are fighting fit – will Lily regain her Manchester Half title after winning the event in 2019 or will Charlotte take the win for her debut come Sunday? 

 

MEN’S

After winning the Manchester Marathon, in 2022, Jonny Mellor will stake his claim to the Manchester Half this year, with his most recent half marathon time of 63:09 marking him out as the favourite. He is expected to be followed closely by Calum Johnson or Jacob Allen, who is taking on the distance shortly after the Copenhagen Half Marathon.

WELCOME BACK ANYA!

The event will also welcome amateur turned pro marathoner Anya Culling, who returns to the event after finishing in 78 minutes last year. In 2022, Anya took her marathon time down from 4:34 in 2019 to 2:34 and has represented England over the marathon distance.

TIMINGS FOR THE DAY

The first wave of the day will be the Elite Wheelchairs, setting off at 08:55. They will be closely followed by both Male and Female Elite runners setting off at 09:00. If you’re supporting in person, you will be able to catch all the starts on the large screen located at Deansgate Interchange (approx.1 mile) and then be able to cheer them on as they run past 5 minutes later. All finishes will be live on our website from our livestream page.

We hope you tune in to the exhilarating elite race on the day, follow us on social media for the latest updates as they come in.

 

Good luck to all those elite athletes taking part this year!

Want tips from the pros? Get tips from Jack Rowe – Manchester Half course record holder and PUMA.