PLANS for Southampton to stage a full marathon next year have been tabled by organisers.

Organisers of the ABP Southampton Half Marathon have told the Daily Echo that with the support of enough runners and council backing the city could see a full 26.2 mile event in 2017.

The Half Marathon event last weekend saw 5,000 people tackle the 13.1 mile course, with a further 1,500 people taking part in the 10k event.

The organisers are now calling on runners to see if there is enough support for a full marathon to be held.

Race director for both the half marathon and the 10k, Chris Rees, said: "We are testing it out, at the moment there is quite a lot of people who would like to see it and we are looking at what interest there might be for it.

"We have looked at a one lap or two lap route, two laps seems the most sensible.

"There is nothing concrete, we are just looking at the possibility of it.

"We have got the infrastructure and the ability to put on a full marathon in 2017 but we would want to get the full support of the council and enough runners to do it.

"I think it is a very exciting prospect if there is enough interest and enough people to support it."

For the run to be viable they would need between 3,000 and 5,000 people to take part in the marathon.

It would also run in tandem with the current events, meaning runners can still take part in the shorter distances.

Initial response to the idea has been positive, with almost 200 people saying they are interested in the idea within the first hour of the Facebook group being launched.

Cllr Satvir Kaur, cabinet member for communities, culture and leisure, said: "I think it is a brilliant idea and I think a full marathon would be phenomenal.

"We would need public support and need to find out the logistics, but it would be amazing to have a full marathon.

"As a cabinet member for leisure and someone who took part over the weekend I think it is one of the best events we have in the city and our sport events are famous throughout the country.

"The atmosphere over the weekend was phenomenal and I felt privileged to be part of it and to bring that back bigger and better would be great."

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith said it would be "absolutely fantastic" if the city could host a full marathon, adding it would also see increased economic benifit to the city if the course was expanded.

He said: "There are obvious economic benefits from staging such a prestigious event but also a huge lift to Southampton's ambition to be the premier city in the South, and those benefits are almost incalculable."

  • To find out more about the possibility of a ABP Southampton Full Marathon go to bit.ly/1VUIueY.

Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead said he was "fully behind" a full marathon coming to the city, adding: "I think the configuration of the city makes a full marathon an interesting proposition in terms of how to run around it, and overall it could provide a very positive economic benefit for Southampton."