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.[6] He won the Australian 5000 m title in March,[7] then placed 29th at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – his best ever placing at the competition. He came fourth in the Emsley Carr Mile and was selected for both 5000 m and 10,000 m races at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He failed to finish the longer race and came 16th in the 5000 m final.[4] 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.[8][9]
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, 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,[10] although he was eliminated in the heats for that event at the 2012 London Olympics a month later.[3] 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.[11]
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 St Mary's University College, Twickenham in London. Also, he trains at Bushy Park – the second largest of the Royal Parks of London, at 445 hectares (1,100 acres) in area.[13]