The Urbanathlon is an 5k urban adventure race run around East Manchester, it started at Sportcity (home of Manchester City) and ended in Philips Park. Along the route various obstacles are placed in the way that runners needed to be overcome, most were easy, some harder and then there are ones like the water slide which were fun (no I did not try it), although some found it difficult running when wet through. This was the fourth Urbanathlon, the first one run in 2008 was probably the hardest, longest and best one, recent ones have been shortened to 5k and made easier and aimed more at having fun. Most of the runners did enjoy the race while some found it quite demanding, the need to be well prepared for a race like this is extremely important, and perhaps some were not as well prepared as they should have been.

Went for a walk around to the ashton canal yesterday, as I was going through Sportcity I heard lots of noise, it was the Tesco Great School Fun Run. I managed to take a few Photos, the weather was typically wet, the fun run had already started and I missed most of it but I managed to catch some late comers at the start line.

The children aged between 5 - 11 have been preparing for weeks leading up to the 2km fun run, as well as heathly eating it was also about promoting a positive attitude to physical fitness. Basically what this means is running is fun providing you follow a few simple rules, educating the children about how to look after the body in a fun way, judging by the noise as you entered Sportcity the children had been well prepared and could not wait to get running.

I think some one is havin a larf, couldn't believe my eyes as I was walking past the City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity. I had to look twice and try to remember what day it was, i thought it was April Fool's Day or some practical joke. On that same spot we used to have what was the tallest sculture in the UK, it was called the B of the Bang, now we have a plastic lookalike. The B of the Bang was the subject of much discussion, local opinion was divided between like it, hate it, some were indifferent, but many were glad to see it gone for good.

On a recent visit to Manchester Museum I was pleasantly surprised, I noticed an exhibit that brought memories flooding back of Belle Vue. In fact the exhibit in question deserves to have a film made about his short life, whether the stories were true or not does not matter, he is without doubt part of local folklore and was a celebrity at Belle Vue. He was born around 1865, the elephant was about 7/8 years old when he was purchased in 1872 as part of a job lot at an auction, animals from Wombwell's Royal Number One Menagerie in Edinburgh were being sold off after closing down.

Sambangra have been the pride of Manchester's vibrant drumming scene for more than a decade, formed in 1997 they offer crowd-stopping street sets and dance-floor filling stage shows, collaborations and workshops. Their unique new fusion of Asian, Brazilian and other styles uses percussion from Africa, India and South America in a range of formats from street band to stage band with bass, keyboards, strings, vocals and guests.

visit http://www.sambangra.com/ for more information

The first Didsbury Festival was held on Saturday 10th May 1980 in Didsbury Park It is now an annual event and has proved to be extremely popular even today. The festival usually starts with a colourful parade throught the streets of Didsbury and finishes in Didsbury Park. Then the fun really starts with lots of stalls, events, dancing, music, dog shows and lots more.

visit http://didsburyfestival.webs.com/ for more information