People on the street: Reflections on Manchester Marathon

National World - LocalTV

Manchester’s Marathon was a massive success over the weekend, we went out into Manchester to ask people on the street why it was such a big deal for the city.

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World. My name is Theo Houston-Bertz and today I'm out on the

00:03streets of Manchester asking people about the marathon that went on here just yesterday as

00:08I'm filming this. Now a record 36,000 people turned out to take part in the Manchester Marathon

00:14which is the second biggest in the country and as I say that is a new record for this city and

00:19this marathon and we want to know why it's so important to people of the city. I mean obviously

00:24you get some great scenes of people cheering on their friends, you get a lot of money raised for

00:28charity but with it gaining popularity each year is this because the nation's attitude towards

00:32running, towards participating in these sort of situations is improving, is getting bigger or is

00:37it simply because that atmosphere is irresistible? We're out on the streets of Manchester now, let's

00:42find out what people have to say. I think we've participated in I think exercise, mental health,

00:47well-being generally, that's why a lot of people do it. Raising money for charities, raising awareness

00:52for the causes. I think the charity piece is really important because there's a lot of negative news

00:57at the moment about budgets being cut for charities and then support organisations, I think people

01:02are keen to do their bit to give back a little bit. And I think a lot of people are watching

01:07it and being involved and even if they're not running it just because I place Manchester

01:11and that's what people do. I want to be a bit more healthier than I am now. Just a good cause

01:16to do it bar. Yeah. Well I think running cultures took a few steps forward recently. There's a big movement

01:23to run in parks isn't there. I forget what it's called now, park run, something like that. The NHS

01:27launched the couch to 5k thing which made it really accessible to start running which I think

01:31is a great thing. And I wasn't there for the marathon but I did see on Reddit lots of people

01:35praising people coming out and encouragement so that was good. I think definitely since COVID people

01:40are trying to get out, you know, we're very proud of our being able to be out and about, our freedom

01:45if you want, getting out and doing some running. I think it's inexpensive as well, right? People want to keep

01:50fit. Yeah. And it's a cheap way of doing it. You don't have to pay for expensive gym memberships

01:54so I think there's more people out there doing it. More and more people want to get healthier

01:58due to COVID and that. Because obviously there's something else. The want is there. The mind

02:06is willing but the flesh is spongy and weak. That's the problem. I reckon I'd want to do

02:11it right now. Conditioning wise give me two years. Well I've already, I've done a half

02:16before. So I've done a number of 10k and a half before and I've signed up to do the

02:21half marathon in October. Right. Mostly because I want to raise some money for trans charities.

02:27So again, saying a lot recently about that. So it's really key to kind of get what I'll do.

02:31And I think six months is plenty of time to trade for a half marathon. You keep asking me,

02:37I've got pins and all sorts in my feet so they're not the best condition for me. So there

02:41you have it. As I say, the Manchester Marathon is gaining popularity each year. This year

02:44was a record breaking year and it's very possible the next year will be the same. Each year lots

02:49and lots of money is raised for charity and the momentum behind the marathon really, really

02:53gathers pace. So let us know if it's something that you'd want to participate in next year

02:57and follow Manchester World for more. Thank you very much for watching.

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