THE English Half Marathon looked like a passing fad in the Warrington calendar of events a few years ago.

Struggling for numbers and starting and finishing in Victoria Park, it was set to fade into the memory.

But then Rob Griffiths, Warrington born and bred, took it on through his company Contest Sports.

Emboldened by success in other events around the world, he had a vision to turn the event into something much bigger.

So a one-mile family run and then a 10k were added to the programme.

And on Sunday, for the first time, the event took in a town centre route.

Runners started and finished outside the Town Hall, with the finishing line being the iconic Golden Gates.

In between, they navigated The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Bridge Street and Palmyra Square.

A record 5,000 took to the start line and many more lined the streets of the town centre and south Warrington where the route heads to cheer the runners on.

The day was a tremendous success and surely it will lead to even bigger and better things in the years to come.

It has also proved to be the highlight of the new Warrington Festival concept.

It will be interesting to see if the lukewarm reaction to Pixie Lott’s show on Bank Park sees a repeat of a live music night in 12 months’ time.

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TWO interesting points have come out of the latest Bridge Street news broken in the Warrington Guardian last week.

Firstly, councillors have deferred a decision on plans for the first piece in the jigsaw, the temporary market hall which will be turned into council offices when the new market hall at Boots is completed.

Their concerns over the design of the building raises a few questions.

They should be commended for their determination that the building is architecturally inspiring and that it will remain fresh in years to come.

But what of other new buildings in town?

There is little merit to the current business incubator which is taking shape in the Stadium Quarter. And so much of this is subjective anyway, so let’s see if these kind of objections become the sign of things to come.

The second point is Odeon coming out and saying it intends to keeps its Westbrook cinema open.

It can only be a good thing that when Cineworld does arrive in 2019 there will be more choice for the consumer.

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AND finally this week, there can’t have been a Warrington Wolves fan not delighted to watch Joel Monaghan racing the length of the field to touch down against Catalans on Saturday.

It may not have been his year but his record for Warrington makes him one of the best.

Thanks for the memories Joel and all the best for the future.