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Reigning Boston Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi and New York City marathon winner Sheila Chepkirui are part of a formidable cast assembled for blistering speeds at this year’s 10km Great Manchester Run.
The duo will be expected to go head-to-head on May 31 as they chase to maintain the recent dominance established by compatriot, Olympic bronze medallist Hellen Obiri, who claimed victory in 2022 and 2023.
Organisers say the elite women’s 10km race is shaping up to be an exciting race, with Chepkirui, who is the reigning Great North Run champion, lining up against Lokedi and several top international road racers.
Chepkirui chalked up victory in last year’s Great Road Run, a half-marathon, timing 69:32.
“After winning the Great North Run last year, I hoped we could work Manchester into my schedule for 2026, as I have heard many good things about this race. I’m looking forward to testing myself against some of the best in the world, and hope to take my good form this year into this race,” said Chepkirui.
Last year’s race was won by Ethiopian Medina Eisa, who stopped the timer at 30:42.
Other athletes getting set to take on Lokedi and Chepkirui in Manchester include Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, the 2022 European champion in the 10km distance, and USA’s Weini Kelati, who is the winner of the Great Manchester Run’s elite winning race, the Manchester Road Race, held in Connecticut.
Great Britain’s Verity Ockenden, Lily Partridge, Clara Evans, and Jess Piaseki will battle it out for home honours and a spot on the podium.
Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Selemon Barega of Ethiopia is back in Manchester to defend his title, this time with a target of lowering Micah Kogo’s course record from 2007. Kogo is a Kenyan legend.
Last year, the race came down to him, 2024 champion Vincent Ngetich, and a strong Uruguayan, Santiago Catrofe.
That trio broke clear at halfway. Then, in the last kilometre, the Ethiopian showed some of the speed that propelled him to an Olympic title in Tokyo 2020, an event staged in 2021 following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Micah Kogo’s men’s course record of 27:21 from that year’s Great Manchester Run, then the seventh quickest in history but now just the 135th, is still on the books thanks to a considerable headwind in the ‘back’ part of this course, starting and ending in Manchester city centre.
Sir Brendan Foster, president of The Great Run Company, said in a statement that organisers were looking forward to surprises later in the month.
“Year after year, we proudly welcome some of the finest athletes from across the globe to the Great Manchester Run. With the city so steeped in sporting history, it’s no surprise that the world’s top athletes return to the streets of Manchester to compete and soak up the unbeatable atmosphere. The elite races always see a few surprises and a nail-biting sprint for the finish, so it will be a great watch whether you’re here in person or watching at home,” Foster said.
The elite runners will be followed by an estimated 38,000 participants taking on the 10km and half-marathon distances in what is shaping up to be the biggest Great Manchester Run weekend to date.
Starting on Portland Street, the course passes some of Manchester’s most iconic landmarks all along the route, including Old Trafford, Etihad, Imperial War Museum, and Salford Quays, before a grandstand finish on Deansgate.