THE former athlete whose vision gave birth to the Great North Run has been honoured by a home town university.

Tyneside-born Brendan Foster has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from Northumbria University.

He masterminded the Great North Run, which has grown in popularity since it was first launched 23 years ago to become the world's biggest half-marathon, and now regularly sees more than 40,000 people take part.

"For me to get this award from Northumbria University was terrific," he said. "I was delighted."

This year, at the age of 55, he took his place among 47,000 runners - the first time he had taken part in the race since 1986 - managing a time of 1 hour 39 minutes.

Professor Kel Fidler, vice-chancellor of Northumbria University, said: "Brendan has made an enormous sporting and economic contribution to the North-East."

Mr Foster won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in 1970 and 1978, a silver in 1974 and a gold in 1978. He took a European Games bronze medal in 1971 and a gold in 1974 and a bronze medal on the Olympic stage in Montreal in 1976.

In addition to UK and European records, he held the world record time for two miles and 3,000 metres.

This contribution to the world of athletics was recognised by the BBC when he won the Sports Personality of the Year award in 1974 and an MBE in 1976. As his athletics career came to an end, he joined the BBC as a sports commentator.

He now heads sports marketing agency Nova International, which specialises in organising mass participation events for terrestrial and Sky television.

He had the idea for the Great North Run while taking part in the Round the Bays Race, in New Zealand