Birmingham to bid for IAAF World Half Marathon

Birmingham, the host of the successful European Athletics Indoor Championships in 2007 will bid to stage the 2009 World Half-Marathon Championships as part of a campaign to attract more major athletics events in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.

The city already has an excellent reputation, having hosted the 2003 World Indoor Championships.

The ambitious City Council's chances of staging the championships appear excellent, with no other rival candidates having yet been revealed.

"It would be a tremendous thing if we got it," said a Birmingham spokesman.

"We have a really good history of hosting athletics championships and this year we have the UK trials for the Olympics back in Birmingham."

The decision is expected to be made by the IAAF Council at their next meeting in London in early April.