Mile run

Although a statute mile today is equal to a length of 5,280 feet, the distance of the English mile gained its current definition of 1,760 yards through a statute of the Parliament of England in 1593.^[3] Thus, the history of the mile run began in England and it initially found usage within the wagered running contests of the 18th and 19th century. Such contests would attract large numbers of spectators and gamblers – so many that the activity became a professional one for its more-established participants.^[4]

The mile run was at the heart of the divide between professional and amateur sports in the late 19th century, as running was beginning to gain popularity in the sports world. Separate world record categories were kept for amateurs and professionals, with professional runners providing the faster times. High-profile contests between Britons William Cummings and Walter George brought much publicity to the sport, as did George's races against the American Lon Myers. The mile run was also one of the foremost events at the amateur AAA Championships.^[4] Although the spotlight was shining on the running scene, the categories remained distinct but the respective rise in amateurism and decline of the professional sector saw the division become irrelevant in the 20th century.^[5]

The mile run continued to be a popular distance in spite of the metrication of track and field and athletics in general, replacing the imperial distance for the metric mile (1500 meters). It was the 1500 metres – sometimes referred to as the metric mile – which was featured on the Olympic athletics programme. The International Amateur Athletics Federation formed in 1912 and confirmed the first officially recognised world record in the mile the following year (4:14.4 minutes run by John Paul Jones).^[6]

The fact that the mile run was the only imperial distance to retain its official world record status after 1976 reflects its continued popularity in the international (and principally metric) era.^[7] Decades later, the distance remains widespread, and is often used as a benchmark for distance running performance.

The top men's middle-distance runners continued to compete in the mile run in the first half of the 1900s – Paavo Nurmi, Jack Lovelock and Sydney Wooderson were all world record holders over the distance.^[6] In the 1940s, Swedish runners Gunder Hägg and Arne Andersson pushed times into a new territory, as they set three world records each during their rivalry over the decade.^[8]

The goal of completing a sub-four-minute mile sparked further interest in the distance in the 1950s and to this day, many competitive runners are still chasing the ambitious barrier. Englishman Roger Bannister became the first person to achieve the feat in May 1954 and his effort, conducted with the help of Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway, was a key moment in the rise of the use of pacemakers at the top level of the sport – an aspect which is now commonplace at non-championship middle and long-distance races.^[9][10] In fact, pacemakers, if performing effectively, can earn generous sums of money for their performances and accurate pacing duties.^{[citation needed]}

The 1960s saw American Jim Ryun set world records near the 3:50-minute mark and his achievements popularised interval workout techniques which are still heavily used today, especially for collegiate distance runners.^[8] Jim Ryun was the first person to run a sub-four minute mile in high school.^[11] From this period onwards, African runners began to emerge, breaking the largely white, Western dominance of the distance; Kenya's Kip Keino won the mile at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (which was among the last mile races to be held at a major multi-sport event as of 2021).^[12]

Filbert Bayi of Tanzania became Africa's first world record holder over the distance in 1975, although New Zealander John Walker further broke Bayi's record a few months later to become the first man under 3:50 minutes for the event. The 1980s were highlighted by the rivalry between British runners Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, who improved the record five times between them, including two records at the Oslo Dream Mile race. Noureddine Morceli brought the mile record back into African hands in 1993 and Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj set the current record of 3:43.13, which has stood since 1999.^[6]

Mile run contests remain a key feature of many annual track and field meetings, including recreational, high school, and collegiate meets.

In the United States, particularly in many high school (NFHS) competitions, the 1600m is a substitute for the mile run.

On the professional level, races such as the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, the Dream Mile at the Bislett Games, the British Emsley Carr Mile, and the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic are among the most prominent. Aside from track races, mile races are also occasionally contested in cross country running, and mile runs on the road include the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City. However, in high school and collegiate cross country running, races are often measured in kilometers, with 5K and 8K being the most common.

On the men's side, the fastest non-downhill mile ran since Hicham El Guerrouj's 3:43.13 in 1999 was Jakob Ingebrigtsen's 3:43.73 at the 2023 Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic & Diamond League Final.

Outdoor

Area	Men's		Women's
	Time	Athlete	Time	Athlete
World	3:43.13	Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)	4:07.64	Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
Continental records
Africa	3:43.13	Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR)	4:07.64	Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
Asia	3:47.97	Daham Najim Bashir (QAT)	4:17.75	Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR)
Europe	3:43.73	Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)	4:12.33	Sifan Hassan (NED)
North, Central America and Caribbean	3:43.97	Yared Nuguse (USA)	4:16.71	Mary Slaney (USA)
Oceania	3:47.48	Oliver Hoare (AUS)	4:15.34	Jessica Hull (AUS)
South America	3:51.05	Hudson de Souza (BRA)	4:30.05	Soraya Vieira Telles (BRA)

Indoor

Area	Men's		Women's
	Time	Athlete	Time	Athlete
World	3:47.01	Yomif Kejelcha (ETH)	4:13.31	Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)
Continental records
Africa	3:47.01	Yomif Kejelcha (ETH)	4:13.31	Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)
Asia	3:57.05	Mohamed Suleiman (QAT)	4:24.71	Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR)
Europe	3:48.87	Josh Kerr (GBR)	4:17.14	Doina Melinte (ROM)
North, Central America and Caribbean	3:47.38	Yared Nuguse (USA)	4:16.85	Elle Purrier (USA)
Oceania	3:50.83	Ollie Hoare (AUS)	4:24.14	Kim Smith (NZL)
South America	3:56.26	Hudson de Souza (BRA)	4:42.24	Valentina Medina (VEN)

Road

Area	Men's		Women's
	Time	Athlete	Time	Athlete
World	3:53.3h	Edward Cheserek (KEN)	4:20.98	Dirbe Welteji (ETH)
Continental records
Africa	3:53.3h	Edward Cheserek (KEN)	4:20.98	Dirbe Welteji (ETH)
Asia	4:01.26	Ryoji Tatezawa (JPN)	4:32.0h	Nozomi Tanaka (JPN)
Europe	3:56.41	Callum Elson (GBR)	4:29.0h	Maria Akraka (SWE)
North, Central America and Caribbean	3:55.0h	Jordan McNamara (USA)	4:25.0h	Ellinor Purrier (USA)
Oceania	3:56.57	Nick Willis (NZL)	4:32.0h	Linden Hall (AUS)
South America	4:02.75	Guilherme Kurtz (BRA)	none	none

Men (outdoor)

• Correct as of May 2024.^[13][14]

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref.
1	1	3:43.13	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	7 July 1999	Rome
2	2	3:43.40	Noah Ngeny	Kenya	7 July 1999	Rome
3	3	3:43.73	Jakob Ingebrigtsen	Norway	16 September 2023	Eugene	[15]
4	4	3:43.97	Yared Nuguse	United States	16 September 2023	Eugene	[15]
5	5	3:44.39	Noureddine Morceli	Algeria	5 September 1993	Rieti
	6	3:44.60	El Guerrouj #2		16 July 1998	Nice
	7	3:44.90	El Guerrouj #3		4 July 1997	Oslo
	8	3:44.95	El Guerrouj #4		29 June 2001	Rome
	9	3:45.19	Morceli #2		16 August 1995	Zürich
6	10	3:45.34	Josh Kerr	Great Britain	25 May 2024	Eugene	[16]
	11	3:45.60	Ingebrigtsen #2		25 May 2024	Eugene	[17]
	12	3:45.64	El Guerrouj #5		26 August 1997	Berlin
	13	3:45.96	El Guerrouj #6		5 August 2000	London
	14	3:46.22	Nuguse #2		25 May 2024	Eugene	[18]
	15	3:46.24	El Guerrouj #7		28 July 2000	Oslo
7	16	3:46.32	Steve Cram	Great Britain	27 July 1985	Oslo
8	17	3:46.38	Daniel Komen	Kenya	26 August 1997	Berlin
	18	3:46.46	Ingebrigtsen #3		16 June 2022	Oslo	[19]
9	19	3:46.70	Vénuste Niyongabo	Burundi	26 August 1997	Berlin
10	20	3:46.76	Saïd Aouita	Morocco	2 July 1987	Helsinki
	21	3:46.78	Morceli #3		27 August 1993	Berlin
11	22	3:46.91	Alan Webb	United States	21 July 2007	Brasschaat
	23	3:46.92	Aouita #2		21 August 1985	Zürich
	24	3:47.10	El Guerrouj #8		7 August 1999	London
	25	3:47.24	Ingebrigtsen #4		21 August 2021	Eugene
12		3:47.28	Bernard Lagat	Kenya	29 June 2001	Rome
13		3:47.32	Ayanleh Souleiman	Djibouti	31 May 2014	Eugene	[20]
14		3:47.33	Sebastian Coe	Great Britain	28 August 1981	Brussels
15		3:47.48	Oliver Hoare	Australia	16 June 2022	Oslo	[19]
16		3:47.65	Laban Rotich	Kenya	4 July 1997	Oslo
			George Mills	United Kingdom	16 September 2023	Eugene	[15]
18		3:47.69	Steve Scott	United States	7 July 1982	Oslo
			Mario García	Spain	16 September 2023	Eugene	[15]
20		3:47.74	Neil Gourley	Great Britain	25 May 2024	Eugene	[21]
21		3:47.79	José Luis González	Spain	27 July 1985	Oslo
22		3:47.83	Jake Wightman	Great Britain	25 May 2024	Eugene	[22]
23		3:47.88	John Kibowen	Kenya	4 July 1997	Oslo
			Silas Kiplagat	Kenya	31 May 2014	Eugene
25		3:47.94	William Chirchir	Kenya	28 July 2000	Oslo

Women (outdoor)

• Correct as of July 2023.^[23][24]

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref.
1	1	4:07.64	Faith Kipyegon	Kenya	21 July 2023	Monaco	[25]
2	2	4:12.33	Sifan Hassan	Netherlands	12 July 2019	Monaco	[26]
3	3	4:12.56	Svetlana Masterkova	Russia	14 August 1996	Zürich
4	4	4:14.30	Genzebe Dibaba	Ethiopia	6 September 2016	Rovereto
	5	4:14.71	Hassan #2		22 July 2018	London
	6	4:14.74	Hassan #3		3 September 2021	Brussels
5	7	4:14.58	Ciara Mageean	Ireland	21 July 2023	Monaco	[25]
6	8	4:14.79	Freweyni Hailu	Ethiopia	21 July 2023	Monaco	[25]
7	9	4:15.24	Laura Muir	Great Britain	21 July 2023	Monaco	[27]
8	10	4:15.34	Jessica Hull	Australia	21 July 2023	Monaco	[27]
9	11	4:15.61	Paula Ivan	Romania	10 July 1989	Nice
10	12	4:15.8h	Natalya Artyomova	Soviet Union	5 August 1984	Leningrad
	13	4:16.05	Dibaba #2		6 July 2017	Lausanne
11	14	4:16.14	Gudaf Tsegay	Ethiopia	22 July 2018	London	[28]
12	15	4:16.15	Hellen Obiri	Kenya	22 July 2018	London	[28]
	16	4:16.15	Obiri #2		9 July 2017	London
13	17	4:16.35	Nikki Hiltz	United States	21 July 2023	Monaco	[27]
14	18	4:16.38	Melissa Courtney-Bryant	Great Britain	21 July 2023	Monaco	[27]
15	19	4:16.47	Elise Cranny	United States	21 July 2023	Monaco	[27]
16	20	4:16.71	Mary Slaney	United States	21 August 1985	Zürich
	20	4:16.71	Kipyegon #2		11 September 2015	Brussels	[29]
	22	4:17.00	Artyomova #2		20 September 1991	Barcelona
17	23	4:17.13	Birke Haylom	Ethiopia	15 June 2023	Oslo	[30]
18	24	4:17.25	Sonia O'Sullivan	Ireland	22 July 1994	Oslo
19	25	4:17.30	Jenny Simpson	United States	22 July 2018	London	[28]
20		4:17.33	Maricica Puica	Romania	21 August 1985	Zürich
21		4:17.57	Zola Budd	Great Britain	21 August 1985	Zürich
22		4:17.60	Laura Weightman	Great Britain	12 July 2019	Monaco	[31]
23		4:17.75	Maryam Yusuf Jamal	Bahrain	14 September 2007	Brussels
24		4:17.87	Gabriela DeBues-Stafford	Canada	12 July 2019	Monaco	[26]
25		4:18.11	Cory McGee	United States	15 June 2023	Oslo	[30]

Men (indoor)

• Correct as of March 2024.^[32]

Rank	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	3:47.01	Yomif Kejelcha	Ethiopia	3 March 2019	Boston	[33]
2	3:47.38	Yared Nuguse	United States	11 February 2023	New York City	[34]
3	3:48.45	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	12 February 1997	Ghent
4	3:48.66	Hobbs Kessler	United States	11 February 2024	New York City	[35]
5	3:48.87	Josh Kerr	Great Britain	27 February 2022	Boston	[36]
6	3:48.93	George Mills	Great Britain	11 February 2024	New York City	[35]
7	3:49.44	Edward Cheserek	Kenya	9 February 2018	Boston	[37]
8	3:49.46	Neil Gourley	Great Britain	11 February 2023	New York City	[34]
9	3:49.62	Adam Fogg	Great Britain	11 February 2024	New York City	[35]
10	3:49.78	Eamonn Coghlan	Ireland	27 February 1983	East Rutherford
11	3:49.89	Bernard Lagat	United States	11 February 2005	Fayetteville
12	3:49.98	Johnny Gregorek	United States	3 March 2019	Boston	[33]
13	3:50.17	Cooper Teare	United States	11 February 2022	Chicago	[38]
14	3:50.35	Cole Hocker	United States	11 February 2022	Chicago	[38]
15	3:50.45	Amos Bartelsmeyer	Germany	11 February 2023	Boston	[39]
16	3:50.46	Anass Essayi	Morocco	11 February 2023	Boston
17	3:50.56	Vincent Ciattei	United States	2 March 2024	New York City	[40]
18	3:50.63	Matthew Centrowitz	United States	20 February 2016	New York City
19	3:50.70	Noureddine Morceli	Algeria	20 February 1993	Birmingham
20	3:50.83	Oliver Hoare	Australia	29 January 2022	New York City	[41]
				11 February 2023	New York City	[34]
21	3:50.92	Galen Rupp	United States	26 January 2013	Boston
22	3:50.94	Marcus O'Sullivan	Ireland	13 February 1988	East Rutherford
		Sam Prakel	United States	3 March 2019	Boston	[42]
24	3:51.06	Nick Willis	New Zealand	20 February 2016	New York City
25	3:51.20	Ray Flynn	Ireland	27 February 1983	East Rutherford

Notes

Below is a list of other times superior to 3:50.55:

• Yared Nuguse also ran 3:47.83 (2024).
• Yomif Kejelcha also ran 3:48.46 (2019).
• Cooper Teare also ran 3:50.39 (2021)
• Cole Hocker also ran 3:50.55 (2021).

Women (indoor)

• Correct as of February 2024.^[43]

Rank	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref
1	4:13.31	Genzebe Dibaba	Ethiopia	17 February 2016	Stockholm
2	4:16.16	Gudaf Tsegay	Ethiopia	8 February 2023	Toruń	[44]
3	4:16.41	Elinor Purrier	United States	11 February 2024	New York City	[45]
4	4:17.14	Doina Melinte	Romania	9 February 1990	East Rutherford
5	4:17.26	Konstanze Klosterhalfen	Germany	8 February 2020	New York City	[46]
6	4:17.36	Freweyni Hailu	Ethiopia	30 January 2024	Ostrava	[47]
7	4:17.88	Jemma Reekie	Great Britain	8 February 2020	New York City	[46]
8	4:18.75	Laura Muir	Great Britain	16 February 2019	Birmingham	[48]
9	4:18.99	Paula Ivan	Romania	10 February 1989	East Rutherford
10	4:19.03	Jessica Hull	Australia	11 February 2024	New York City	[49]
11	4:19.53	Hirut Meshesha	Ethiopia	30 January 2024	Ostrava	[50]
12	4:19.73	Gabriela DeBues-Stafford	Canada	8 February 2020	New York City	[46]
13	4:19.89	Sifan Hassan	Netherlands	11 February 2017	New York City
14	4:20.5h	Mary Decker-Tabb	United States	19 February 1982	San Diego
15	4:20.61	Susan Lokayo Ejore	Kenya	11 February 2024	New York City	[51]
16	4:20.81	Josette Norris	United States	29 January 2022	New York City	[41]
17	4:21.19	Katie Snowden	Great Britain	11 February 2023	New York City	[52]
18	4:21.79	Regina Jacobs	United States	8 January 2000	New York City
19	4:22.66	Shannon Rowbury	United States	31 January 2015	Winston Salem
20	4:22.72	Lucia Stafford	Canada	11 February 2023	New York City	[53]
21	4:22.86	Colleen Quigley	United States	9 February 2019	New York City	[54]
22	4:22.93	Kate Grace	United States	11 February 2017	New York City
23	4:23.00	Carla Sacramento	Portugal	24 February 2002	Liévin
24	4:23.19	Gabriela Szabo	Romania	4 February 2001	Stuttgart
25	4:23.33	Kutre Dulecha	Ethiopia	4 February 2001	Stuttgart

Notes

Below is a list of other times superior to 4:22.59:

• Elle Purrier also ran 4:16.85 (2020), 4:19.30 (2022).
• Laura Muir also ran 4:20.15 (2023).
• Josette Andrews also ran 4:20.88 (2023).
• Gudaf Tsegay also ran 4:21.72 (2022).
• Konstanze Klosterhalfen also ran 4:22.59 (2022).

Key:  Incomplete information

Boys

Age	Time	Athlete	Nation	Birthdate	Date	Place	Ref
5	6:33.3	Daniel Skandera	United States	2 November 2007	23 July 2013	Santa Rosa
6	5:44.4	Daniel Skandera	United States	2 November 2007	5 August 2014	Santa Rosa
7	5:20.3	Daniel Skandera	United States	2 November 2007	9 June 2015	Santa Rosa
8	5:12.1	Daniel Skandera	United States	2 November 2007	9 August 2016	Santa Rosa
9	5:02.5	Daniel Skandera	United States	2 November 2007	27 June 2017	Santa Rosa
10	4:46.6	Daniel Skandera	United States	2 November 2007	24 July 2018	Santa Rosa
11	4:36.04	Archie Sideridis	Australia	18 October 2011	9 February 2023	Melbourne
12	4:35.66	Quenton Lanese	United States	4 March 2011	20 May 2023	Mercer Island
13	4:22.33	Jackson Miller	United States	11 June 1999	1 June 2023	St. Louis
14	4:11.20	Angus Wilkinson	Great Britain	16 January 2009	26 August 2023	Stirling	[55]
15	4:05.77	Corey Campbell	Great Britain	26 July 2006	20 May 2022	Stirling	[56]
16	3:55.44	Cameron Myers	Australia	9 June 2006	23 February 2023	Melbourne	[57]
17	3:50.15	Cameron Myers	Australia	9 June 2006	25 May 2024	Eugene	[58]
18	3:48.93	Niels Laros	Netherlands	17 April 2005	16 September 2023	Eugene	[15]
19	3:48.06	Reynold Cheruiyot	Kenya	30 July 2004	16 September 2023	Eugene	[15]

Girls

Age	Time	Athlete	Nation	Birthdate	Date	Place	Ref
6	6:36.0	Celine Struijvé	Netherlands	10 November 2012	17 September 2019	Epe
7	6:05.1	Kristina Wilson	United States	5 December 1963	5 June 1971
8	5:43.5	Imogen Stewart	Australia	27 July 2005	10 December 2013	Sydney
9	5:18.74	Imogen Stewart	Australia	27 July 2005	17 January 2015	Wollongong
10	5:04.19	Imogen Stewart	Australia	27 July 2005	16 January 2016	Wollongong
11	4:56.08	Imogen Stewart	Australia	27 July 2005	4 March 2017	Sydney
12	4:46.57	Imogen Stewart	Australia	27 July 2005	13 January 2018	Wollongong
13	4:44.73	Imogen Stewart	Australia	27 July 2005	22 December 2018	Sydney
14	4:40.1 i	Mary Decker	United States	4 August 1958	16 March 1973	Richmond
15	4:35.16	Sadie Engelhardt	United States	21 August 2006	9 April 2022	Arcadia	[59]
16	4:28.25 i	Mary Cain	United States	3 May 1996	16 February 2013	New York City
17	4:24.11 i	Mary Cain	United States	3 May 1996	24 January 2014	Boston
18	4:24.10 i	Kalkidan Gezahegne	Ethiopia	8 May 1991	20 February 2010	Birmingham
19	4:17.57	Zola Budd	Great Britain	26 May 1966	21 August 1985	Zürich

Women

Year	Time	Athlete	Place
2001	4:23.19 i	Gabriela Szabo (ROU)	Stuttgart
2002	4:23.00 i	Carla Sacramento (POR)	Liévin
2003	4:24.40	Natalya Yevdokimova (RUS)	Heusden-Zolder
2004	4:21.57	Yelena Zadorozhnaya (RUS)	Tula
2005	4:28.29	Yelena Kanales (RUS)	Tula
2006	4:27.96	Carrie Tollefson (USA)	Falmouth
2007	4:17.75	Maryam Yusuf Jamal (BHR)	Brussels
2008	4:18.23	Gelete Burka (ETH)	Rieti
2009	4:25.91 i	Jenny Simpson (USA)	College Station
2010	4:23.53 i	Gelete Burka (ETH)	Birmingham
2011	4:28.60 i	Jenny Simpson (USA)	New York City
2012	4:26.76	Brenda Martinez (USA)	Falmouth
2013	4:27.02 i	Sheila Reid (CAN)	New York City
2014	4:24.11 i	Mary Cain (USA)	Boston
2015	4:16.71	Faith Kipyegon (KEN)	Brussels
2016	4:13.31 i	Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)	Stockholm
2017	4:16.05	Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)	Lausanne
2018	4:14.71	Sifan Hassan (NED)	London
2019	4:12.33	Sifan Hassan (NED)	Monaco
2020	4:16.81 i	Elinor Purrier (USA)	Boston
2021	4:14.74	Sifan Hassan (NED)	Brussels
2022	4:19.30 i	Elinor Purrier St. Pierre (USA)	New York City
2023	4:07.64	Faith Kipyegon (KEN)	Monaco

• "i" indicates performance on 200m indoor track

• 5 Mile - 5 mile run

• IAAF list of one-mile records in XML^[1]