Manchester Marathon – Course Map and Elevation Profile
| Distance | 42.195 km |
|---|---|
| Route elevation | 90 m up · 80 m down |
| Highest point | 48 m · 19.9 km |
| Lowest point | 23 m · 32.6 km |
| Steepest climb | +3.1 % · 19.6 km |
| Steepest descent | −2.5 % · 20.6 km |
| Net elevation change | +10 m |
| Course type | Point to point |
| Course record men | 2:10:46 · Jonny Mellor · 2022 |
| Course record women | no verified figure |
90 metres up and 80 down across 1 climbs worth the name. No single one decides the race; the sum of them does.
Course
Manchester in numbers
- Distance
- 42.195km
- Ascent
- 90m
- Descent
- 80m
- Low / high
- 23 / 48m
- Flat-equivalent
- +0.54 %
- Steepest 50 m
- +3.1 %
Pace Planner
bergauf flach bergabWaagerecht: Distanz. Streifen unter dem Profil: mittlere Steigung je 500 m. Gestrichelte Linien sind Orientierungspunkte.
- Position
- 0.00 km
- Elevation
- 33 m
- Gradient
- −0.7 %
- Pace here
- 4:54 /km
- Elapsed
- 0:00
- Remaining
- 3:30:00
- Landmark
- —
Pacing table
| km | Point | Elevation | Gradient | up / down | Target pace | total | adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 m → 30 m | −0.38 % | +0 m / −4 m | 4:54 | 4:54 | 4:56 | |
| 2 | 30 m → 33 m | +0.35 % | +4 m / −0 m | 5:02 | 9:56 | 4:56 | |
| 3 | 33 m → 34 m | +0.07 % | +1 m / −1 m | 4:58 | 14:54 | 4:56 | |
| 4 | 34 m → 32 m | −0.19 % | +2 m / −3 m | 4:57 | 19:51 | 4:56 | |
| 5 | 32 m → 29 m | −0.26 % | +0 m / −3 m | 4:55 | 24:46 | 4:56 | |
| 6 | 29 m → 33 m | +0.40 % | +5 m / −1 m | 5:04 | 29:50 | 4:56 | |
| 7 | 33 m → 31 m | −0.21 % | +1 m / −3 m | 4:56 | 34:46 | 4:56 | |
| 8 | 31 m → 29 m | −0.23 % | +2 m / −4 m | 4:57 | 39:43 | 4:56 | |
| 9 | 29 m → 28 m | −0.05 % | +1 m / −1 m | 4:56 | 44:40 | 4:56 | |
| 10 | 28 m → 26 m | −0.25 % | +2 m / −5 m | 4:57 | 49:37 | 4:56 | |
| 11 | 26 m → 25 m | −0.13 % | +1 m / −2 m | 4:57 | 54:33 | 4:56 | |
| 12 | 25 m → 27 m | +0.24 % | +2 m / −0 m | 5:00 | 59:33 | 4:56 | |
| 13 | 27 m → 27 m | +0.03 % | +1 m / −1 m | 4:58 | 1:04:31 | 4:56 | |
| 14 | 27 m → 27 m | −0.01 % | +1 m / −1 m | 4:57 | 1:09:28 | 4:56 | |
| 15 | 27 m → 27 m | −0.01 % | +2 m / −2 m | 4:58 | 1:14:26 | 4:56 | |
| 16 | 27 m → 30 m | +0.24 % | +3 m / −1 m | 5:01 | 1:19:27 | 4:56 | |
| 17 | 30 m → 33 m | +0.33 % | +4 m / −1 m | 5:03 | 1:24:30 | 4:56 | |
| 18 | 33 m → 33 m | 0.00 % | +1 m / −1 m | 4:57 | 1:29:27 | 4:56 | |
| 19 | 33 m → 34 m | +0.14 % | +2 m / −1 m | 4:59 | 1:34:26 | 4:56 | |
| 20 | 34 m → 47 m | +1.32 % | +14 m / −1 m | 5:19 | 1:39:46 | 4:56 | |
| 21 | 47 m → 35 m | −1.20 % | +1 m / −13 m | 4:50 | 1:44:35 | 4:56 | |
| 22 | 35 m → 32 m | −0.37 % | +1 m / −4 m | 4:55 | 1:49:30 | 4:56 | |
| 23 | 32 m → 38 m | +0.58 % | +7 m / −1 m | 5:07 | 1:54:37 | 4:56 | |
| 24 | 38 m → 34 m | −0.39 % | +1 m / −5 m | 4:55 | 1:59:32 | 4:56 | |
| 25 | 34 m → 31 m | −0.30 % | +1 m / −4 m | 4:55 | 2:04:27 | 4:56 | |
| 26 | 31 m → 29 m | −0.16 % | +0 m / −2 m | 4:55 | 2:09:22 | 4:56 | |
| 27 | 29 m → 30 m | +0.14 % | +1 m / −0 m | 4:58 | 2:14:21 | 4:56 | |
| 28 | 30 m → 31 m | +0.03 % | +1 m / −1 m | 4:57 | 2:19:18 | 4:56 | |
| 29 | 31 m → 31 m | +0.02 % | +0 m / −0 m | 4:57 | 2:24:15 | 4:56 | |
| 30 | 31 m → 31 m | +0.05 % | +1 m / −1 m | 4:58 | 2:29:13 | 4:56 | |
| 31 | 31 m → 29 m | −0.21 % | +1 m / −3 m | 4:56 | 2:34:09 | 4:56 | |
| 32 | 29 m → 24 m | −0.54 % | +0 m / −5 m | 4:53 | 2:39:02 | 4:56 | |
| 33 | 24 m → 27 m | +0.26 % | +4 m / −1 m | 5:02 | 2:44:03 | 4:56 | |
| 34 | 27 m → 30 m | +0.37 % | +4 m / −0 m | 5:03 | 2:49:06 | 4:56 | |
| 35 | 30 m → 33 m | +0.30 % | +4 m / −1 m | 5:02 | 2:54:08 | 4:56 | |
| 36 | 33 m → 31 m | −0.26 % | +0 m / −3 m | 4:55 | 2:59:03 | 4:56 | |
| 37 | 31 m → 33 m | +0.23 % | +3 m / −0 m | 5:00 | 3:04:04 | 4:56 | |
| 38 | 33 m → 35 m | +0.16 % | +2 m / −0 m | 4:59 | 3:09:03 | 4:56 | |
| 39 | 35 m → 36 m | +0.10 % | +1 m / −0 m | 4:58 | 3:14:00 | 4:56 | |
| 40 | 36 m → 36 m | +0.05 % | +1 m / −0 m | 4:57 | 3:18:58 | 4:56 | |
| 41 | 36 m → 39 m | +0.33 % | +4 m / −0 m | 5:02 | 3:24:00 | 4:56 | |
| 42 | 39 m → 43 m | +0.36 % | +4 m / −0 m | 5:02 | 3:29:02 | 4:56 | |
| 42.20 | 43 m → 43 m | +0.10 % | +0 m / −0 m | 4:58 | 3:30:00 | 4:56 |
The course, kilometre by kilometre
Start and finish are 3.2 km apart as the crow flies, so this is a point-to-point course.
Highest and lowest point are 25 metres apart, and start and finish are at practically the same height.
The race is held in Manchester, United Kingdom, in April, on tarmac throughout.
Elevation gain and climbs
90 metres up and 80 down across 1 climbs worth the name. No single one decides the race; the sum of them does.
The hardest stretch runs from km 18.8 to 19.8: 16 metres at 1.6 % on average.
Against a 3:30 target the terrain costs about 1 minute compared with a flat loop. Adjust for gradient and what remains is what the legs actually paid.
The route on the map
The course covers 3.2 km of ground between start and finish and never returns to where it began.
The GPX data of this course
The smoothed profile is stored every 50 metres: 845 points with latitude, longitude, elevation and gradient. The elevations here do not come from the course file but from a terrain model: the ones in the original were unusable.
We do not hand this course out as a file: the line comes from a third-party source and is not ours to pass on. Once a course is built from runners’ own recordings, the file appears here.
Common questions
- How hilly is the Manchester Marathon?
- 90 metres of ascent and 80 of descent over 42.195 km. 92 % of the course sits between −1 and +1 per cent, and 0 % steeper than three. That makes it a rolling course.
- Where is the hardest section?
- Between km 18.8 and 19.8, gaining 16 metres at 1.6 % on average. The steepest single ramp is at km 19.6 at 3.1 %, the steepest descent at km 20.6 at −2.5 %.
- Is this a good course for a personal best?
- Minetti's cost model puts this course at 0.54 % against a flat one. On a three-and-a-half-hour target that is roughly 1 minutes.
- Is the course a loop?
- No. Start and finish are 3.2 km apart in a straight line.
- Where does this elevation data come from?
- Streckendatei „adidas Manchester Marathon 2026 – 42.195 km“ von goandrace.com (Garmin-Connect-Export), übergeben am 18.08.2026, 934 Punkte. Elevation: Höhenwerte derselben Datei — Korrelation mit dem Geländemodell 0,95.
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