The governing body said the event will incorporate the existing World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, as well as a five-kilometre competition.

Other distances, such as a road mile, could potentially be included in future.

Mass races are envisaged to be held alongside the elite championships to allow recreational runners to be part of the event.

“Road running has become an increasingly significant part of our sport over the past 20 years and it deserves greater recognition within our World Athletics Series events,” said Jon Ridgeon, World Athletics chief executive.

“The growth in popularity of half marathons, including our own World Championships, as well as community 5km events like Parkrun, indicates that there is a need for more high status road racing events.

“We also think this will be a commercially desirable concept for host cities, partners and broadcasters.

“With the establishment of the World Athletics Road Running Championships, the whole global community of recreational runners, which numbers in the millions, will be able to come together to celebrate their passion for putting foot to the road.”

World Athletics says it will call for expressions of interest from cities to host the inaugural Road Running Championships in the near future.

This year’s World Athletics Half Marathon Championships are scheduled to take place at Gdynia in Poland on October 17.

The event was moved from March to October due to the coronavirus pandemic, with only elite races set to take place.

The 2021 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst was another event impacted by the pandemic, with the competition in Australia moved to 2022 due to international travel restrictions.

New dates will be determined at World Athletics next Council meeting on December 1 and 2.

World Athletics says it has approved shifting the World Athletics Cross Country Championships from odd to event years.

This will see the event align with the Olympic Games, with the governing body having proposed the inclusion of a cross country mixed team relay for 15 countries in the programme for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.