Wheelchair field and tougher cycle loop set for Manchester City road race Sunday

The CR Manchester City Road Race returns to Mandeville, Manchester, this Sunday with a new competitive class and a harder loop for cyclists, as organisers brace for another record turnout.

Launched four years ago by Costas of Manchester and Garfield Green, the event drew just over 500 people in its first year and more than 800 last year. With interest still climbing and the extra category on the card, planners expect participation to pass one thousand.

Runners, walkers, and cyclists have featured in past editions. This year, wheelchair athletes from the Jamaica Paralympic Association will join the field.

Cyclists who wanted more distance will follow a revised circuit from Brooks Park down Ward Avenue and Caledonia Road, onto New Green Road to the New Green Roundabout, then back along Winston Jones Highway, onto Ward Avenue, and to the finish at Brooks Park.

Organisers say medical cover and safety measures will be in place on race day. Physiotherapist Denzel Williams, of the Southern Regional Health Authority, will help oversee those arrangements. Marshals will guide entrants unfamiliar with Mandeville, with route officials posted to direct turns.

Nurse manager Marika Davis-Miller, who leads the renal unit at Mandeville Regional Hospital, urged the public to back the race. Money raised will support dialysis for patients whose kidneys no longer function and will also bolster the hospital’s haemato-oncology unit, where people are treated for blood disorders and cancers.

Races are due to begin at 7:00 a.m., starting and finishing at Brooks Park along Wind Road. British High Commissioner to Jamaica Her Excellency Asif Herbert is patron for this year’s staging.