About 40,000 take part in Great Manchester Run

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: About 40,000 take part in Great Manchester Run3 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleKaya Black ,in ManchesterandAngela Ferguson ,North WestBBCSiblings Katie and Harrison were among the Race Across the World contestants competing in memory of former contestant Sam Gardiner, who died aged 24About 40,000 people have taken to the streets for this year's Great Manchester Run. Huge crowds watched as elite athletes lined up alongside fun runners for either the 10km (6. 1 miles) race or the longer half-marathon course.

Among those taking part were Race Across the World participants, who raced in memory of former contestant Sam Gardiner, who died in a crash near Manchester a year ago. Sam's mum, Jo Gardiner, said it was a "very moving" day and she had "already cried twice". She told North West Tonight "the fact that they are doing this is fantastic".

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"We are this lovely dysfunctional family and every year we add the next series to the WhatsApp group and it's lovely to meet some of them properly ," Jo added. She said Sam's best friend was also running. Event founder and former British long distance runner Sir Brendan Foster said the people taking part and the city itself made the event what it was, and, at its heart, it was all about "ordinary people doing extraordinary things".

Jo Gardiner, who appeared on Race Across the World with her son Sam, said it was a "very moving" dayHe said that since it began in 2003 it "grew and grew and grew and now we are up to the biggest ever - 40,000 and we are absolutely delighted". "We organise the event but it's the people of Manchester and Greater Manchester who populate the event and also the atmosphere comes from them - it doesn't come from us," he added. "You'll feel today the humour, the relaxation and the effort and the consistency and you also see ordinary people doing extraordinary things and raising loads of money for charity but helping each other on the way and keeping fit themselves.

"Sir Brendan Foster said the Great Manchester Run was all about "ordinary people doing extraordinary things"Some of the pairs from the current sixth series of Race Across the World ran in Sam's memory, including siblings Katie and Harrison along with Liverpudlian friends Jo and Kush. The 24-year-old died on 26 May 2025 and his fellow participants were marking a year since his death and raising funds for charity. "I think it's really important to honour Sam and we've got Jo, his mum with us today, and it's really lovely that we can all get together to support her, with it being a year on," said Katie.

She said it was also important for them to be doing the 10k to raise money for The Christie Charity as "everyone knows somebody who has been affected by cancer". Thousands of spectators lined the streets to support the runners and double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes returned to the starter's platform for the elite women's race.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.