OTHER groups must step up to back a collaborative approach with SEQOL Community Foundation if Swindon Half Marathon is to flourish in its second year under the charity.

The charitable arm of the adult health and social care provider SEQOL saved this year’s race in February, when British Heart Foundation (BHF) ended its management of the event.

The past eight months has formed a learning curve for the charity and although Sunday’s races were a success, it wants others to step up and share the workload in 2016.

Katie Taylor-Neale, this year’s event director, said the foundation’s aim was always to make Swindon Half Marathon sustainable again and revealed a decision was yet to be made on its future management.

“That decision hasn’t been made yet, but we will be meeting with people who have also shown an interest in supporting the event,” she said on yesterday.

“It’s all about making it sustainable for moving it forward.”

Several runners criticised BHF’s management of the event before and after this year’s edition, but praised SEQOL Community Foundation as a shot in the arm for its future.

Katie said the charity had made a conscious decision to acknowledge past failings and reinvigorate the number one event on the Swindon road running calendar.

“We really wanted to work with others that have been involved before over the years to bring it back and re-energise it,” she said.

“The last couple of years, yes it has lost some of its energy and organisation, but we really wanted to put that back into it.”

However, despite this year’s successes, which saw more than 1,800 people enter the half marathon, five-mile multi-terrain and two-mile fun run races, a call has been made for more collaboration.

The commitment is there from SEQOL’s charity, but it is keen to hear from more groups and interested parties in order to stretch the event’s web out to more and more people.

“Our commitment was always to make it sustainable in terms of the relationships we rebuilt with local businesses and with running clubs,” said Katie.

“They were the relationships that would then sustain the event moving forward, as well as how we worked with volunteers as well.

“We are very much committed to it and we are already planning to meet with a range of people that are interested in getting involved for next year.

“We can have that meeting, look at who wants to be involved and how we might do that going forward.

“The best way to do it is with a collaborative approach, with a range of people involved.”