Well done, Fred. It was pretty cold in the wind in the Peak District on Sunday but at least it didn't rain. I work about half a mile east of Queen's Road tram stop and never realised there was a hotel there (I pass by on occasional visits to the Fort shopping centre).

We’ve just returned from a weekend in Manchester where my wife joined 30,000 other runners on Sunday for the Manchester Marathon.

We stayed at the Niu Loom hotel, which is about 3 miles from the city centre, and perfect for its proximity to Queens Road tram station. From there, we could get a tram straight to the starting line at Old Trafford.

For me, it was a weekend of walking and I did about 20 miles in all - over 15 miles around the marathon route trying to spot Fred and cheer her on, and nearly 5 miles doing a recce the day before. Let’s start with the recce…

The recce for Fred’s marathon included checking out the start and finish areas, the bag-drop location and a park where we thought we might meet after her run, but for me the highlight was getting to see the home of the team I’ve followed (sort of) for 60 years!



This was our first ever visit to Manchester (not counting the airport!) and we were really impressed. We thought there was a great feel to the place and we loved the mix of old and very modern architecture.

The Saturday recce was well worth doing because we knew exactly where we were going on Sunday morning - starting with Manchester’s fantastic tram system!



Fred prepared for the race inside the Old Trafford cricket ground, so we had to part ways very early on. I strolled around for an hour or so before taking up position near the starting line. I waited about half-an-hour for Fred’s wave to start and managed to get a good photo or two as she went past…



I’d worked out my own walking route that would take me to a number of spots on the marathon route so I could do more cheering. Unfortunately, my plan fell apart almost immediately!

Fred began by heading towards the city centre on a dual-carriageway and I could see earlier starters returning on the other side. For some reason, I imagined that she would be coming back up the road in less than half-an-hour’s time, so I decided to wait for her on the central reservation. I could have checked my maps, but I thought I remembered the route and so I just waited. After an hour of standing in the very cold wind, I gave up and set off at a brisk walk to try to find her elsewhere on the route.

To cut a very long story short, Fred was only two miles from the finish when I next saw her…



…and in the meantime I’d waited somewhere in Sale for a second freezing cold hour in the wind watching thousands of runners go past - none of whom was Fred! I was very relieved to finally see her as she neared the finish!

There were more photos though, thanks to there being lots of ‘official’ photographers. Here are a couple of their photos… 





…and also photos of Fred crossing the finish line and proudly wearing her medal:



The weather for the Manchester Marathon wasn’t helpful in the slightest, being cloudy, cold and blustery, and Fred didn’t get the time she was hoping for. She did manage just under 5 hours though, which she was happy with - and anyway, I’m in awe that she can average 5.3mph for 5 hours! 

I ended up walking 15.3 miles around the residential streets of Manchester, and probably averaged not much more than 2mph!

Thanks Richard for the excellent photo. The path looks good! 

thanks everyone, appreciate it.

I quite fancy doing this walk again, over 3 days. I would travel to Nant Peris via public transport and camp there for 2 nights.


Day 1 - I would get the bus to Pen y Pass and climb Crib Goch, Garnedd Ugain and Yr Wyddfa without my camping gear, before spending a second night at Nant Peris (and the Vaynol Arms).


Day 2 - I would break camp and tackle Yr Elen, Y Garn, the Glyders and Tryfan, before camping in the Ogwen Valley. A hard day with a heavy pack, but doable.


Day 3 - would see me going over the Carneddau to Llanfairfechan, from where I would catch a train home.