2024 Manchester Marathon prize draw winners announced!
We are pleased to announce the two registered athletes who were selected at random to represent Team Mind at the 2024 Adidas Manchester Marathon… Congratulations to Stephen Ball from West Cheshire AC and Eleanor Rollett from Dorchester RIOT!
The pair won their spots in the Manchester Marathon as part of the #RunAndTalk competition held last month during #RunAndTalk Week. We caught up with them both to get their reactions:
“Wow I was so excited to find out I had won. I don’t think I have ever won a prize before!” exclaimed Eleanor.
“I had been considering Manchester as a spring marathon for 2024 as I don’t know the city and the marathon has such good reviews. However, by the time I reached a decision all the places had sold out so I was extremely excited to be notified of my place by England Athletics.
“The course has a reputation for being fast so with a bit of luck I could squeeze out a PB, particularly with the support of the coaching team. I will be very happy to support Mind on my journey as I believe sport can have such a positive benefit for mental wellbeing. My club is Dorchester RIOT which stands for ‘running is our therapy’, a name that ties in well with Mind.”
Stephen added:
"I am so happy to win a spot at the Manchester Marathon. I am really looking forward to the winter months of training in order to try to achieve a sub 4-hour PB and to share my progress leading up to race day. Mind is an amazing charity to run in support of and I want to share their message in the fight for mental health."
As Stephen and Eleanor alluded to, running has huge benefits on both our mental and physical health, something which both England Athletics and Mind are passionate about promoting through campaigns such as #RunAndTalk - as England Athletics Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager Harry Stow explained:
"Our #RunAndTalk campaign aims to get people talking about mental health, help to tackle the stigma and raise awareness. Personal stories that give us insights into the benefits we gain from running are really inspiring, so we look forward to tracking the progress of our two competition winners and wish them all the best with their training!"
Want to get involved?
If you are looking for your next race or challenge, why not check out the brand-new fixtures list for 2024 which includes all of our licenced road, cross country, track and field and multi-terrain competitions.