Spirit of Manchester on show at Great Manchester Run
The Simplyhealth Great Manchester Run took place today amongst heightened security after the suicide bombing that killed 22 people on Monday. The running community and the people of Manchester displayed solidarity, strength and spirit in the wake of the attack.
It was an emotional run with "I heart Manchester" flags waving along the route and many runnners wearing yellow ribbons and bee symbols as the running community came together in a show of solidarity.
Tirunesh Dibaba dedicated her fourth victory to the people of the city. The triple Olympic champion and five-time world champion, was the favourite ahead of the 10km and was not troubled as she cruised home more than two minutes ahead of second-placed Christelle Daunay.
In the men’s race, it was an American 1-2 as Dathan Ritzenhein claimed victory from Bernard Lagat.
All eyes were on Dibaba in the pre-race build-up and the Ethiopian did not disappoint as she eased to victory in 31.03. Daunay was a distant second in 33.08 while Britain’s Katrina Wootton (handicap -1.6) was an impressive third in 33.18.
Dibaba has won in Manchester in 2013, 2014, 2016 previously and is now one victory away from Haile Gebrselassie’s five wins in the city.
"I am very happy to win this race again," said Dibaba. "This is a very important race for me because of what happened this week in Manchester, I wanted to give my support to the people of Manchester and England. It is special to me."
Read more at http://www.greatrun.org/news-and-media/news/dibaba-this-win-is-for-manchester#Rx6Ub8PY232TTXQg.99