THE Swindon Half Marathon will be back in 2017, in a ‘bigger, better and more special’ format.

Pillars of the running community formed a focus group this week to discuss ways in which the race could be relaunched and reinvented next year, following the popularity of Facebook group, New Swindon half marathon,

The group included personal trainer and two time half winner Gary O’Brien, Danny Clayton from the DC Injury Clinic, Liam Dixon from Run Swindon and Lee Bint from Equinox.

Discussions centred around a town-centre focused route which could take in many of Swindon’s best-known landmarks, including the County Ground, the Outlet Centre and of course, the Magic Roundabout.There are also hopes to get town businesses on board to sponsor the event.

Organiser Graeme Hardie from 113 events outlined the group’s vision for 2017,

“We want to change the route so that it starts and finishes in the town centre. It also needs to be wheelchair accessible and we’d love to see a greater number of runners take part. There’s no reason why we can’t eventually have 2,000 runners plus taking part.

“It would also be held in September so we have that end of summer weather and the conditions are perfect for running,” he said.

“We’re at an early stage but we’re feeling positive. We want seasoned Swindon Half runners to feel like they’re running a brand new race when they step up to that start line.

“The previous organisers SEQOL did a fantastic job but we want to inject new life into the half”

Liam Dixon gave his expert insight into the reasons behind changing the route.

“In my line of work I see three types of runners, those who are going for personal bests and won’t go for the Swindon half, first timers who will avoid the route because it’s too hilly and runners who take that route regularly and won’t pay to do so,” he said.

The committee aims to have financial backing by the end of the year and encourage 1,500 to 2,000 runners to sign up.

Graeme said “We will create the route and go back to the council, who have been so supportive so far and go from there.”

The Swindon Half was due to take place on Sunday, October 16 but was cancelled due to a lack of funds. Organisers said there was a shortfall of about £25,000, despite money being raised from a crowd funding campaign, sponsorship and donations.

Over the coming weeks the focus group will be putting provisional routes together before a meeting with Swindon Borough Council. The group is keen to hear what runners would like to see from the race. Email suggestions to graeme@113events.com