Collis Birmingham is the new national half marathon champion.
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Birmingham from Ballarat marked his return to prominence on Australian soil on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.
The two-time Olympian clocked one hour, three minutes, 16 seconds for the 21.1 kilometres.
He won by 51 seconds from Chris Hamer, with Mitchel Brown more than two minutes back in third.
Birmingham, 32, has been out of the limelight for sometime while battling injuries.
He signalled a return in May when was a pacemaker for Eliud Kipchoge as he attempted to be the first man to run a marathon in under two hours.
After decorated track career, primarily over 5000m and 10,000m, Birmingham announced his intention early this year to focus on road running with the hope of qualifying and running in the marathon at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
MEANWHILE, the Victorian Country Track and Field Championships are returning to Ballarat in the new year.
The meet will be at Ballarat Regional Athletic Centre's Llanberris complex on January 26-27-28.
The championships, which were last in Ballarat in 2014, cater for age groups from under-14 to 60-plus.
Ballarat is part of a five-way rotation also including Bendigo, Geelong, Casey Fields and Albury-Wodonga for the titles, with Albury-Wodonga to follow in 2019.