Collis Birmingham (born 27 December 1984) is an Australian middle- and long distance runner. He is a two-time participant at the Summer Olympics (2008 and 2012) and four-times at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

(2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015). He has competed at five editions of the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

. He was an Australian and Oceanian 10,000 metres record holder from 2009 to 2011.

Career

Born in

Carlton, Victoria Carlton is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Carlton recorded a population of 16,055 at the 2021 census. Im ...

,Collis Birmingham
. London 2012. Retrieved on 23 February 2013. Birmingham made his international debut at the 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, placing 84th in the junior race. His first senior international race came four years later at the 2007 Championships.Collis Birmingham
IAAF. Retrieved on 23 February 2013. That year he won his first national title in his debut over the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

distance by winning the Zatopek 10K ahead of

Martin Dent Martin Dent (8 February 1979 in Woking, UK) is an English-born Australian Olympian marathon runner, who ran at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He made his season best time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 29 seconds in the marathon in 28th place. Dent a ...

. At the

2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2008 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 30, 2008. The races were held at the Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Four races took place, one for men, women, junior men and junior women respectively. All race ...

he took 73rd place and he participated in the 2008 Olympic Games in the 5000 metres event but failed to qualify for the final. He came third at the Great Yorkshire Run 10K and made a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

debut at the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South ...

, running a time of 65:46 minutes. The 2009 season saw Birmingham break the Oceanian record for the 10,000 m with a run of 27:29.73 minutes in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. He won the Australian 5000 m title in March, then placed 29th at the

2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

– his best ever placing at the competition. He came fourth in the

Emsley Carr Mile The Emsley Carr Mile is an annual invitational athletics running event held in the United Kingdom over one mile for men. The race was won in 2022 by the British athlete Matthew Stonier. History The race was inaugurated in 1953 by Sir William Ca ...

and was selected for both 5000 m and 10,000 m races at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

. He failed to finish the longer race and came 16th in the 5000 m final. Near the end of the year he won his second 10K race at the Zatopek Classic and also placed second at the Great Australian Run, winning the Australian 15K road title. In 2010, Birmingham ran a

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

best of 3:35.50 minutes, a 3000 metres best of 7:38.77 minutes and a 5000 metres best of 13:10.97 minutes. He was 83rd at the

2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held at Myślęcinek Park in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 28 March 2010. It was the first time in over twenty years that Poland hosted the annual championships, having previously held them in Warsaw in ...

and was chosen to represent Oceania in the 5000 m at the

2010 IAAF Continental Cup The 1st IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field sporting event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Originally scheduled as the 11th IAAF World Cup in Athletics, it was renamed in 200 ...

, where he came sixth. He ran in both 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

in Delhi, finishing sixth and ninth, respectively. He represented Australia at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

, but did not progress beyond the 5000 m heats. He entered the 2012 New York City Half Marathon and ran the distance in 63:10 minutes. He set three track bests that year, recording 1:49.36 minutes for the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

, 7:35.45 minutes for the 3000 m and 13:09.57 minutes for the 5000 m. His 5000 m best came in a runner-up performance at the

London Grand Prix The London Diamond League, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Di ...

, although he was eliminated in the heats for that event at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

a month later. He set his fourth personal best of the year at the Great North Run, reaching seventh place with a time of 61:25 minutes. Birmingham improved this further to 60:56 minutes at the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon, which he won by a margin of twenty seconds. In August 2013, Birmingham attended the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

Young Athletes Training Camp at

St Mary's University College, Twickenham , mottoeng = Show Thyself to be a Mother , established = 1850 (as St Mary's College)2014 (gained university status) , type = Public university , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , endowment ...

as a special guest and was interviewed by 80–90 potential future running stars. Other special guests who attended the camp were

Andrew Osagie Andrew Osagie (born 19 February 1988 in Harlow, Essex) is an English athlete who specialises in the 800 metres. He represents Harlow Athletic Club at club level and Great Britain at international level. He is the fourth fastest Briton of all t ...

, Ross Murray and

Mick Woods Michael 'Mick' Woods (born 15 February 1949 in Great Britain) is a former long-distance runner and a middle/long-distance running coach. He is currently a coach at Aldershot, Farnham & District AC and sports lecturer at St Mary's University ...

Competition record

Personal bests

* 800m: 1:49.36 ( Ballarat 2012) *

1500m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athlet ...

: 3:35.50 (

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

2010) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

: 3:54.30 (London 2009) *

3000m The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

: 7:35.45 ( Stockholm 2012) * 5000m: 13:09.57 (London 2012) *

10,000m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

: 27:29.73 (

Berkeley, New South Wales Berkeley is a suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales. The suburb is located in Wollongong's southern suburbs, on the northern shore of Lake Illawarra, and is one of the city's most populous suburbs. At the , it had a population of 7,605. History ...

2009)

Training

Birmingham is currently running 100 miles to 120 miles every week. He currently lives in Australia but comes to England for 6 weeks in the summer to train; often at

in London. Also, he trains at

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

– the second largest of the Royal Parks of London, at 445 hectares (1,100 acres) in area. Birmingham has trained the 2020 Tokyo Olympic runner, Stewart McSweyne.

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham, Collis 1984 births Living people Athletes from Melbourne Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Australian male long-distance runners Australian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Australia People educated at Ballarat High School World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia People from Carlton, Victoria