Sophie Dober

In May this year, Birmingham held its first Great Birmingham Run, a 10k event which attracted thousands of entrants of all ages and levels of running experience. It was the first of many sporting events that have been organised for the city, as part of a combined £4 million investment from the council and Sport England to build Birmingham a new reputation as the 'European Capital of Running'. Birmingham City Council hopes that such events will not only put the city on the 'map', but also encourage those who are inactive to start being more physical in whatever way they can. With this in mind, the budget is being used for events such as the International Dance Festival in May 2016 and the Arts festival in September.      Buzzing #latergram #greatrunBirmingham #Birmingham A photo posted by Rupi Dosanjh (@rupidosanjh) on May 4, 2015 at 10:19am PDT   With this major investment – and the city's agreement with British Athletics to continue hosting events like the Diamond League and British Championships at Alexander Stadium – the council hopes to build Birmingham’s status as a running and sporting capital. So, to prove the point, the next in the Great Birmingham Run series is a half marathon, taking place on Sunday October 18. The 13 mile run will start on Jennens Road, and take entrants around the edge of both Cannon Hill Park and Selly Park, before the finish line before crossing the finish line on Broad Street. If you want to take part, there's still time to build up your f