AFTER months of gruelling training, professional runners and charity joggers are preparing to take their places on the starting line for the Manchester Marathon.
Around 1400 runners from across Europe are expected to snake their way around the city on Sunday in the 26-mile endurance test.
The event, sponsored by the Manchester Evening News, is now in its fifth year. It is guaranteed to cause traffic chaos, but it will also raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity.
Race director Paul Mee said: "It's not necessarily for elite athletes, it's for everyone. It's a 26-mile street party and in certain areas it's brilliant."
Among the runners will be Newton, a teacher who won the ladies title two years ago. This year she has persuaded staff at Terra Nova school, in Holmes Chapel, to join her. Jackie, 36, who runs for Stockport Harriers, has been training headteacher Robin Lewis, teachers Michael Walton and Lisa Bourne, her friend Tony Keatman and Deborah Morrissey a parent at the school.
The race starts at Heaton Park at 9.30am and ends in Wythenshawe Park.
- Manchester City Council's hotline to assist motorists is 0161-230-7412.