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Manchester Half Canalathon

Manchester Half Canalathon

£21.00 GBP
£21.00 GBP
Sale Sold out
Tax included.
  • Earn your medal
  • Course navigation by Skamper
  • Trees planted for every run
A fast and flat(tish) out and back half marathon route right from the city centre, exploring the varied towpath of the Rochdale Canal. 
  • 13.1 miles / 21.1km
  • Ascent: 53m / 174ft
  • Starts from: the towpath, off Tariff Street, 15 mins walk from stations
  • Challenge instructions and .gpx download
  • Five trees planted on completion
  • Manchester Half Canalathon Medal

Track Your Progress with Skamper

Skamper, our companion app, provides you with the route guidance and tracks your progress.
  • The clearest maps, designed specifically for runners
  • Accurate target times based on previous runs
  • Over 3000 other routes to explore and train on

Five Trees Planted for your Run

As soon as you enter, Skamper commits to planting a tree. When you finish the Manchester Half Canalathon, Skamper commits to plant four more. All trees are planted in partnership with EarthRuns Active for Earth. 

Earn Your Medal

Once you've completed the Manchester Half Canalathon, we'll send you a medal to celebrate your accomplishment. If you'd prefer, we'll plant an extra tree instead of sending you a medal.

More about the Route

This off-road half marathon shares the outward half with its big brother ‘The Manchester Canalathon’ following the Rochdale Canal before it turns around at bridge 74 to head back to the city centre.

Easy on navigation, long flat towpath sections (with some small climbs and descents past locks)  and good surfaces. Scenery is mixed from pre-industrial, to modern developments, graffitied walls to green open spaces.

If you love running by the water, this is the route for you - and it's easy to get to. Run the route, earn your medal, and sit back with the unbeatable satisfaction of a job well done on one of the UK's most iconic waterways.
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Skamper Reforestation Project

Skamper commits to planting trees for every challenge completed. The bigger the challenge, the more trees get planted.

  • At least one as soon as you enter.
  • The remaining trees pledged when you complete the challenge.
  • For longer challenges we plant even more.

Skamper plants the trees in partnership with EarthRuns Active for Earth.

Each tree will grow to support over 300 species and create enough oxygen to support two human beings.

Trees clean our air and water, create habitats for biodiversity, contribute to our health and wellbeing, and create jobs for social impact. So that’s why we need to plant more – as many as we can.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I enter a challenge?

Simply download the app, create your profile, select your challenge/event from the events tab and enter the code in your card. Then run!

How do I claim my reward?

You will receive a notification to say the challenge is complete and the team at Skamper will automatically send you your reward.

What if I don’t have any courses near to me?

We are happy to add more courses for you, if there aren’t any that are easily accessible for you. Simply use the ‘request a course’ feature in the explore tab and either suggest a course or ask for one of a certain length and we’ll design it for you!

Can I enter multiple challenges at once?

Yes, you can! For example you can enter ‘marathon in a week’ and ‘ultra in a month’ and the app will record all of your runs for both challenges automatically.

Do I have to start my challenge on a certain date?

No, you can start your challenge on any day. For the weekly challenges you then have seven days to complete them and for the monthly ones, 30 days.

Is there an expiry date on a challenge?

Codes will remain live for 12 months, after which they will expire.

Can I walk the challenges, or do you have to run them?

You can do the challenges at any speed you like, so you can walk or run.

Do I have to run a Skamper course, or can I run other routes and then upload my miles to the app?

Skamper is all about delivering on demand running courses, so you have to run Skamper courses to complete the challenges. Other challenges allow you to manually upload any miles run, but our app gives you actual courses to complete. It’s all part of the challenge!

What if I can’t complete the challenge in the time period specified due to illness or injury?

We understand that sometimes things get in the way of running, so drop the team a line at info@skamper.app and we’ll see what we can do.

Do I have to run with my phone?

Because Skamper shows you a display of the course and helps you to navigate it,  tracking you round it, you will get the maximum benefit if you run with your phone. However, once you are confident of a course you can record your run on your GPS watch and then upload the GPX file to the app using the ‘+’ in the top right hand corner of a course. This will then automatically count towards your challenge.