ATHLETICS
OLYMPIAN Collis Birmingham has capped off a strong European season with a stellar finish in England.
Birmingham, from Ballarat, completed a double-header in Newcastle-Gateshead quayside.
He started by challenging dual Olympic gold medallist and English hero Mo Farah in the two-mile at the Great City Games to claim third.
Then he backed it up with seventh in the Great North Run half-marathon a day later with a personal best time of 61 minutes, 25 seconds.
Meanwhile, Ballarat’s Nathan Hartigan finished fifth in the Sydney Running Festival half-marathon, which doubled as the Australian Half-Marathon Championships.
Hartigan was fourth in the Australian championships with a time of 1:07.38.