Hi Mike
Towsure offer an excellent little kit of special lubricant, briliantly shaped brush and a little metal gizmo that you can use to reshape a "squashed" rail.
I use the brush and lubricant once a year at the start of each season and what a difference!
The little metal gizmo is a metal bar with a "bullet" shape at each end, one bigger than the other. By running this "bullet" arround inside the awning rail and with gentle levering any tight spots can easily be eliminated.
The kit is not expensive and must be one of the most useful things I have bought. After lubricating the rail the awning can be slid through with just one hand as long as a second person ensures that it "feeds" into the rail ok.