Birmingham To Bid For World Athletics Road Championships

Birmingham could bid to stage the World Athletics Road Running Championships, as part of the legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Cabinet Members of the Birmingham City Council will decide whether to approve a bid to stage the event in either 2023 or 2024, which would ‘deliver a festival of running’ to the city.

The event programme would include men’s and women’s half marathon and 5km road races, and would bring in revenue exceeding the £4.2 million generated by the Birmingham Great Run, according to the city council, with a full study on direct economic impact to be calculated as part of the full submission.

“We know one of our city’s strengths is its ability to stage major international sporting events – with the upcoming Commonwealth Games showcasing this on a global stage,” said Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council.

“But we don’t want our ambitions or aspirations in this sector to end in August 2022. We know other Commonwealth hosts have gone on to stage many more big events and we want to emulate this.

“Our rich and proud history with athletics means staging the World Athletics Road Running Championships is a natural next step, helping cement part of our legacy from being the Proud Host City of Birmingham 2022.

“The bid we want to submit for Road Running will offer something for people of all abilities from those who have never run a race before right through to seasoned amateurs to the world elite.”

The council says there is an ‘expectation’ that the bid would incorporate a wider series of activities and events, such as mass participation events for the public, a mini race for children, a running expo open to the public, and a conference ‘relevant to the running industry’.

The World Athletics deadline for a formal bid is 1st June 2021, while the World Athletics Council are expected to announce the host in July.

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