Olympic champion Greg Rutherford says he cannot wait to compete in his ‘home away from home’ as a huge sporting weekend in Manchester begins on Friday night.
Long-jumper Greg and a host of other top stars are competing in the Great CityGames, with more than 20,000 fans expected as the city centre is transformed into an athletics arena.
A track has been laid on Deansgate and Albert Square transformed into an arena for field events, where Greg and other Olympic hopefuls will be put through their paces just months before the Rio games.
Greg, who won a gold medal at London 2012, hails from Milton Keynes but is a huge Manchester United fan and told the M.E.N he loves the city.
He said: “It’s amazing to be back in Manchester, one of my favourite cities. I’m a big Man United fan and I spend a lot of time up here coming to games. For me it’s a home away from home.
“The Street Games is always one of my favourite competitions and I’m looking forward to another good one on Friday. Hopefully I can jump far and win it.”
That will then be followed on Sunday by the Great Manchester Run, with thousands taking part and raising an estimated £6 million for charity.
Olympic gold medallists Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba will lead the field in Europe’s biggest 10K event, which will this year see its 300,000th finisher.
England manager Roy Hodgson is the honorary starter of the run, seeing off the first wave of participants from the start line on Portland Street at 11.30am. Later that day, he will lead out his side against Turkey in the Euro 2016 warm-up game at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.
A huge number of celebrities are taking part in the 10k, including Moston’s own world champion boxer Anthony Crolla who will be leading his Crolla’s Army - a dozen runners with their own reasons for running.
Crolla is fresh from retaining his WBA lightweight crown in the city only two weeks ago.
Watch: Getting hyped-up for the Great CityGames in Manchester
On Saturday, the Junior and Mini Great Manchester Run returns at City’s Etihad Campus where thousands of youngsters will run, walk or jog and raise vital cash for charities and play their part in the sporting extravaganza.
This year, all participants in the Junior Great Manchester Run will wear the Number One bib to pay tribute to Kirsty Howard, who took part in every event before her death last October at the age of 20.
David Hart, Communications Director at organisers The Great Run Company, said: “Runners will come from far and wide to join this celebration of everything that is great about Manchester. Once again there’s a huge turnout of runners from Manchester which has such a proud heritage and reputation.
“It’ll be a marvellous weekend of sport and it’s great news that millions of pounds will be raised for dozens of charities which rely so heavily on such sponsorship donations from runners and their supporters.
“Manchester has once again done itself proud and hopefully runners and spectators will enjoy the terrific party atmosphere.”
The deadline to enter the Great Manchester Run at greatrun.org/manchester is 10am on Friday, May 20, and late entrants must collect entry packs from customer information points.
'This is my chance to give something back and promote a great charity'
A father is gearing up for the Great Manchester Run to raise funds for a charity which supports his epileptic daughter.
Mark Appleyard, 39, will be running the 10k race on Sunday, May 22, in aid of Stockport-based charity Independent Options.
His daughter, Evie, aged two, regularly attends the charity’s Children and Family Centre.
The centre provides a play area in safe and welcoming space for children with learning disabilities and additional needs.
Children can learn and play, while parents are also given access to more information and support.
Evie has global development delay, a learning disability, and is currently undergoing tests to get a diagnosis for her specific condition.
She also has epilepsy and has suffered nine severe seizures over the last year and a half.
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Mark, from Woodsmoor in Stockport, is aiming to raise £500 for the charity and has currently received £180 in donations.
He has begun training hard to take on the race, which is being broadcast on BBC Two. The race starts on Portland Street and continues past Old Trafford stadium, the Imperial War Museum and The Lowry.
He said: “Independent Options has been fantastic for both Evie and my wife Christine. They offer amazing support and fun groups which Evie loves and have helped us to meet families in a similar position. This is my chance to give something back and promote a great charity and raise awareness for Evie’s conditions.”
Greater Manchester Run 2016
Fundraising manager Lucy Sawdon-Molloy said: “Mark is doing a fantastic job of gearing up for the Great Manchester Run, fitting in training sessions around work and hospital visits.
“We’re thrilled that Mark has chosen to support Independent Options by taking on the 10k, and wish him the best of luck for the day.”
Anybody who wishes to make a donation can go here .
For more information about Independent Options go here .
