HOPES have been raised that the Swindon Half Marathon could be resurrected next year, with the help of a committee of running enthusiasts.

A Facebook group, New Swindon half marathon, has been launched by Graeme Hardie, from 113 events.

In a post Graeme said it was the group’s aim to bring the half marathon back in a bigger and better format next year.

“We're here to re-invent the race into a format that suits not just the local running community, but brings something bigger and better for the town itself -

“As you might imagine, with the existing format only stopping last week, the planning for the 2017 race is still very much in an early stage.

“In the last few days, we've started building a focus group for the event with the help of Liam and Tracy Dixon at Run Swindon, and we'll aim to have routes and dates fixed ready for the race to open for entries early next year.”

The group’s vision for 2017 will see a new town centre route which is wheelchair friendly and will take in town landmarks such as the Magic Roundabout and the Oasis, along with increased amounts of runners.

This announcement gives fresh hope to hundreds of runners devastated by the event’s cancellation.

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