Marathon runners up by 25 per cent as 900 take on Northampton course this year

Simon Hollis, race director at Go Beyond Sport, is only two years into his role running Nothampton's Half Marathon but he is already making his mark on the town as racers have this year increased by more than 200.Simon, who is from Kettering, said: "For us we were 25 per cent up on last year. What we are doing with it now is we are establishing it as a go-to race within the calendar."Before it has been a nice half marathon... but the route is incredible. We are taking the runners all around the town and we are starting to get the message out now and telling people that Northampton is the place to come to."I'm on a mission to make this something else so that people come here and go 'wow, this is amazing. It has a real buzz to it'. We have achieved a lot this year in terms of how people feel about the race."Although it was Simon's second year in charge the race itself saw many firsts including a new course record as one man crossed the finish line at one hour and 11 minutes, a 'charity cheer zone', and Mighty Magnus' Medicine supporters running inside a boat.The race starts at the Guildhall and initially routes up to the Raceourse via St Giles Street and Kettering Road, following the perimeter of the Racecourse the course heads back into town via Barrack Road, Lady's Lane and Abington Street and back to the Guildhall completing the 5k town centre section.This year Simon introduced a shorter race called Northampton's Size 6 - a play on Northampton's shoe heritage - which is only 6 miles long and misses out the Great Houghton loop.