THERE is fresh hope that this year's Swindon Half Marathon will not be the last.

The event, which takes place on Sunday, September 22, appeared set for the axe two months ago when organisers said it was too costly to stage.

But the running community of the town has rallied in support and it seems a solution might be on the horizon.

Graeme Hardie, one of the organisers, said: “Since we spoke about not doing the race anymore we have received more interest from other organisers to take it on.

“It’s looking positive for the future, but it will probably have to change from its current form. It would still be in the town centre because that’s where all the infrastructure for the spectators is – the coffee shops, things like that.

“But I imagine they will look to reduce the footprint, maybe make it a multi-lap race instead, it’s all because of how expensive the traffic management is, creating it a multi-lap will mean less roads will have to be closed.”

With just over a week to go, this year's event is set to attract an entry list close to its capacity.

Graeme said: “Currently we have just under 2,300, which is about the same as last year.

“We tend to get a bit of an increase towards the end of the sign-up period because people always leave it until the last minute.”

The entry deadline is tomorrow, with a few places available on the day.

“We will have a limited number of on-the-day spots," said Graeme. "We only have 2,500 places available so whatever isn’t taken by the sign-up deadline will be able to be join on the day of the race.

“The weather forecast is currently looking good, it should be about 19C and overcast, which is almost perfect running conditions.

“We always try to put the race on in September so that we can catch the end of summer without it going into the terrible weather.

“A bit of drizzle never hurt anybody.”

If no new organisers are found, this year's half marathon will be the last.

Back in July, it was revealed £55,000 is needed for road closures and traffic management alone and that the event was struggling to break even.

At the time, Graeme said: “When we took this race on at the end of 2016. We wanted to be able to create something a bit special for Swindon, to put it on the running map and to build a race that pulled together the vibrant running community of our town and the surrounding areas.

“Unfortunately we’ve simply not been able to make it work financially with the number of runners that have attended, and the amount of work associated with organising the race has taken over our lives more than we could have ever imagined or expected.”

To sign up for the event, visit newswindonhalf.co.uk