Manchester track is living up to its reputation of being the busiest in Britain as grassroots track and field events begin to return

Not only is Stretford track in Manchester the busiest competition venue in Britain, but it is leading the way when it comes to athletics emerging from lockdown in England, writes Jason Henderson.

Last Saturday (April 3), the main club that uses the venue, Trafford AC, held the first track and field meeting in the country since coronavirus restrictions were eased. And AW hears it was the first of an amazing 32 meetings that the club will organise this year.

These include two National Athletics League matches, the BMC Grand Prix, Northern and Cheshire league events, several Youth Development League matches, two medal meetings, seven open meetings and a combined events classic!

None of this will come as a surprise to keen readers of AW. Last October we ran a story in our monthly magazine about Longford Park in Stretford being Britain’s ‘busiest’ track due to it having more events recorded on the Power of 10 stats site than any other track (1032 in the last 15 years with the ‘runner-up’ being Watford followed by Grangemouth, Bedford, Jarrow and Birmingham).

Mike Harris from Trafford AC says: “As well as providing valuable competition to athletes, the club is channelling all funds towards the cost of a full track resurface due to take place in the late summer of 2022.

"Last resurfaced in the late 1980s, the club is working in partnership with Trafford Council, who will oversee the project and provide the majority funding. England Athletics are also part of the project team.”

There are also plans to replace the floodlights with LED lighting and Harris adds: “The track – almost certainly the busiest in the country – is also a base for Manchester Triathlon Club, Chorlton Runners, Simply Cycling (a community thrice-weekly event with up-to 200 participants), Didsbury Runners, Manchester University and parkrun (700 participants ) as well as hosting over 30 school sports days every summer.

“A fundraising campaign has already commenced with various projects planned. On completion, the track could well be the premier six-lane track in the country.”

Last weekend’s meeting featured everything from under-11 sprints races to a senior discus contest which saw Lawrence Okoye enjoying his best throw since the 2012 Olympics.

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