The nation’s favourite 10k running event, the Bupa Great Manchester Run, has seen over a quarter of a million enthusiastic runners pound the streets of Manchester since its first staging in 2003. First held in May 2003, the run was created as a legacy event following the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The Bupa Great Manchester Run has since grown into a weekend festival of sport, including mini and junior events and the Powerade Great CityGames (link to city games site) – a unique elite event that consistently brings together some of the world’s top sprinters on a purpose built track in the heart of the city centre. In recent years, tens of thousands of spectators and a live TV audience have witnessed the world’s greatest distance runner Haile Gebrselassie win the Bupa Great Manchester Run on an unprecedented four occasions, with Britain’s Jo Pavey winning the women’s event twice. Olympic champions Gebrselassie and Derartu Tulu plus world champions Paul Tergat, Zersenay Tadesse, Berhane Adere, Sonia O’Sullivan, Lornah Kiplagat and Vivian Cheruiyot are all past winners. Since the first Great Manchester Run, an estimated £22 million has been raised for a host of charitable causes, including the Christie, the Lord Mayors official charity for the last 2 years, who have seen over a million pounds raised by runners.