M60 O-Ringen Relay 2026
Runners from MDOC and other nearby orienteering clubs took part in the M60 O-Ringen Relay around Manchester on Sunday 23rd August.
The M60 O-Ringen is a series of 12 linear MapRun courses that weave clockwise through green and urban spaces near the route of the M60 ring road around Manchester. First devised by Peter Ross as an orienteering activity during Covid, runners choose 12 out of a possible 15 checkpoints in any order between the start and finish of their chosen leg, and each leg starts exactly where the previous one finished. Legs range in length from 7 to 11km and take roughly an hour to complete.
In this year’s M60 O-Ringen Relay, 12 runners and one cyclist completed 10 of the legs. Numbers were disappointingly low this year, largely due to holiday commitments and the Lincoln Urban event on the same day, but all those who did take part enjoyed seeing some surprisingly green parts of Manchester. The chain of runners were kept up to date through the day by marshals via a dedicated WhatsApp group.
First off at 8am at Sale Water Park were Rebecca Glen and Shirley Spence leaving Sale Water Park on Leg 8 to Urmston Beach; 12 hours later, Andrea Gregory, Ian Turner and Paul Waring from SELOC arrived back at Sale Water Park to complete Leg 7 from Millgate Fields, Didsbury.
| Leg | Start Time | Start Location | Finish | Runner |
Time (min/sec) |
Dist (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 8am | Sale Water Park | Urmston Beach | Rebecca Glen + SS | 79.13 | 10.33 |
| 9 | 9am | Urmston Beach | CorpAcq Stadium | Shirley Spence + RG | 61.15 | 9.68 |
| 10 | 10am | CorpAcq Stadium | Wardley |
Cecilia Fenerty |
66.30 | 9.87 |
| 11 | 11am | Wardley | Philips Park |
David Wathey |
60.02 | 10.24 |
| 12 | 12pm | Philips Park | Heaton Park | Steve White (PFO) | 56.50 | 9.16 |
| 1 | 1pm | Heaton Park | Boggart Hole Clough | Liz Hamer-Davies | 136.00 | NR |
| 2 | 2pm | Boggart Hole Clough | Daisy Nook | (bike) Marie Roberts | 98.16 | 10.91 |
| 3 | ... | Daisy Nook | Shepley Wood | MR in theory | Abandoned | - |
| 4 | 3pm | Shepley Wood | Houghton Dale | Trevor Roberts | Ditto | - |
| 5 | 4pm | Houghton Dale | Heaton Norris | Iain Bell (DEE) | 48.35 | 7.55 |
| 6 | 5pm | Heaton Norris | Millgate Fields | Paul Shannon (DEE) | 44.31 | 8.47 |
| 7 | 6pm | Millgate Fields | Sale Water Park | Andrea Gregory, Ian Turner and Paul Waring (all SELOC) | 115.44 | 15.11 |
The chain was broken in the afternoon following a sequence of logistical problems, but thanks to the on-the-hour starts for each leg, Iain Bell was able to start Leg 5 at 4pm as planned. Finally, runners and supporters gathered at Jackson’s Boat pub by the Finish point to greet the last leg runners and share the group’s joint achievement.
The circuit was first run as a relay in 2025 to mark the club’s 60th anniversary. Peter Ross revised the maps and courses this year to reflect changes on the ground since they were first planned. To view the maps and courses, open the MapRun app and select UK/Manchester/M60 O-Ringen then the individual legs. Maps and Factsheets about each leg can be viewed by clicking on the green ‘I’ button.
Marie Roberts organised the relay, aided by marshals Julie Brook, Carmel Burke and Trevor Roberts.
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