Major race awarded to Birmingham

Kenya's Lornah Kiplagat is the reigning women's champion

Birmingham has been chosen to stage the 2009 World Half-Marathon Championships.

The city will be the third British venue to host the championships after Newcastle, which held the maiden event in 1992, and 2001 hosts Bristol.

Ed Warner, chairman of UK Athletics, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Birmingham City Council to host this prestigious event."

He added that the race, which will take place on 11 October, would be a "top class sporting spectacle".

The World Half-Marathon Championships are the only International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world championships specifically for road runners and were first held as part of the Great North Run on Tyneside 15 years ago.

Kenya's Lornah Kiplagat is the reigning women's champion, while Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea is the current men's champion.

The IAAF have also chosen Thessaloniki in Greece as the venue for next year's World Athletics final.