Two miles

"Two mile run" redirects here. For the stream in Pennsylvania, see Twomile Run.

The 2 mile is a historic running distance. Like the mile run, it is still contested at some invitational meets, perhaps because it provides an easier record to break for meet promoters (and corresponding bonus payment for participants), as well as its historical chronology. It is largely superseded by the 3000 m and 5000 m, and by the 3200m in NFHS American high school competitions. The IAAF no longer keeps official world records for this distance; they are called world best instead.

The world record for men is 7:58.61 set by Kenyan Daniel Komen in Hechtel, Belgium 19 July 1997. The women's record is 8:58.58, set by Ethiopian Meseret Defar in Brussels, Belgium 14 September 2007.

World Record Progression

Men

Outdoors

TIME ATHLETE DATE PLACE
9:17.0  Alfred Shrubb (GBR) 1903-09-12 London, United Kingdom
9:08.4  Alfred Shrubb (GBR) 1904-06-11 Glasgow, United Kingdom
9:08.4  Edvin Wide (SWE) 1925-06-23 Kramfors, Sweden
9:01.4  Edvin Wide (SWE) 1926-09-12 Berlin, Germany
8:59.6  Paavo Nurmi (FIN) 1931-06-24 Helsinki, Finland
8:58.4  Don Lash (USA) 1936-06-13 Princeton, USA
8:57.4  Gunnar Höckert (FIN) 1936-09-24 Stockholm, Sweden
8:56.0  Miklós Szabó (HUN) 1937-09-30 Budapest, Hungary
8:53.2  Taisto Mäki (FIN) 1939-06-07 Helsinki, Finland
8:47.8  Gunder Hägg (SWE) 1942-06-03 Stockholm, Sweden
8:46.4  Gunder Hägg (SWE) 1944-06-25 Östersund, Sweden
8:42.8  Gunder Hägg (SWE) 1944-08-04 Stockholm, Sweden
8:40.4  Gaston Reiff (BEL) 1952-08-26 Paris, France
8:33.4  Sándor Iharos (HUN) 1955-05-30 London, United Kingdom
8:32.0  Albie Thomas (AUS) 1958-08-07 Dublin, Ireland
8:30.0  Murray Halberg (NZL) 1961-06-07 Jyväskylä, Finland
8:29.8  Jim Beatty (USA) 1962-06-08 Los Angeles, USA
8:29.6  Michel Jazy (FRA) 1963-06-06 Paris, France
8:26.4  Bob Schul (USA) 1964-08-29 Los Angeles, USA
8:22.6  Michel Jazy (FRA) 1965-06-23 Melun, France
8:19.8  Ron Clarke (AUS) 1967-07-27 Västerås, Sweden
8:19.6  Ron Clarke (AUS) 1968-08-24 London, United Kingdom
8:17.8  Emiel Puttemans (BEL) 1971-08-21 Edinburgh, United Kingdom
8:14.0  Lasse Virén (FIN) 1972-08-14 Stockholm, Sweden
8:13.8  Brendan Foster (GBR) 1973-08-27 London, United Kingdom
8:13.51  Steve Ovett (GBR) 1978-09-15 London, United Kingdom
8:13.45  Saïd Aouita (MAR) 1987-05-28 Turin, Italy
8:12.17  Khalid Skah (MAR) 1993-06-30 Hechtel, Belgium
8:09.01  Moses Kiptanui (KEN) 1994-06-30 Hechtel, Belgium
8:07.46  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 1995-05-27 Kerkrade, Netherlands
8:03.54  Daniel Komen (KEN) 1996-07-14 Lappeenranta, Finland
8:01.10  Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 1997-05-31 Hengelo, Netherlands
7:58.61  Daniel Komen (KEN) 1997-07-19 Hechtel, Belgium

Indoors

TIME ATHLETE DATE PLACE
8:09.66  Hailu Mekonnen (ETH) 2000-02-20 Birmingham, United Kingdom
8:04.69  Haile Gebreselassie (ETH) 2003-02-21 Birmingham, United Kingdom
8:04.35  Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2008-02-16 Birmingham, United Kingdom
8:03.40  Mo Farah (GBR) 2015-02-21 Birmingham, United Kingdom

Women

Outdoors

TIME ATHLETE DATE PLACE
9:19.56  Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) 1998-06-27 Cork, Ireland
9:10.47  Meseret Defar (ETH) 2007-05-20 Carson, USA
8:58.58  Meseret Defar (ETH) 2007-09-14 Brussels, Belgium

Indoors

TIME ATHLETE DATE PLACE
9:28.15  Lynn Jennings (USA) 1986-02-20 New York, USA
9:23.38  Regina Jacobs (USA) 2002-01-27 Boston, USA
9:10.50  Meseret Defar (ETH) 2008-01-26 Boston, USA
9:06.26  Meseret Defar (ETH) 2009-02-26 Prague, Czech Republic
9:00.48  Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) 2014-02-15 Birmingham, United Kingdom

High school boys

Note: this list only covers boys because the history of 2 mile running largely occurred before Title IX, before high school girls were allowed to compete, which occurred about the same time as conversion to metric distances.[1]

TIME ATHLETE SCHOOL CITY DATE PLACE
8:57.8 Mike Ryan Wilcox High School Santa Clara, California 1965
8:48.3 Rick Riley Ferris High School Spokane, Washington May 28, 1966 Washington State Championships[2]
8:41.5 Steve Prefontaine Marshfield High School Coos Bay, Oregon April 25, 1969 Corvallis Invitational, Corvallis, Oregon[2]
8:40.9 Craig Virgin Lebanon High School Lebanon, Illinois June 9, 1973 International Prep Invitational, Prospect, Illinois[2]
(8:40.0i) Gerry Lindgren Rogers High School Spokane, Washington February 15, 1964 Cow Palace, Daly City, California[3]
8:36.3 Jeff Nelson Burbank High School Burbank, California May 6, 1979 Pepsi Invitational, Westwood, Los Angeles, California
8:34.23 German Fernandez Riverbank High School Riverbank, California June 20, 2008 Nike Outdoor Nationals, Greensboro, North Carolina video
8:29.46 Lukas Verzbicas Carl Sandburg High School Orland Hills, Illinois June 4, 2011 Prefontaine Classic, Eugene, Oregon video

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.cs.uml.edu/~phoffman/nats/gods.htm
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://runningentertainment.com/runningshots25.html
  3. ↑ http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php?id=557&option=com_content

External links

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