ever wondered what it means for a runner to be a “middle distance” or “long distance” runner? in the running / racing world there’s three main categories of distance events that differ by distance ranges
short or sprint distance
these are traditional 100 meter (100m), 200m, 400m, and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. these are pretty much purely anaerobic events. anything beyond 400m is in the middle distance category where the running starts to demand both high aerobic and anaerobic work
medium distance
common track distances are the 800m, 1500m, milers (1609m) , 3000m and the steeple chase variations involving obstacles and water jumps. anything beyond 3000m is going to be long distance
long distance
this is where my current comfort level is with running, although i do most of my higher intensity work in the short distances. common races in this range are the 5000m or 5k (though some people also consider the 5k a medium distance event), 10k, half marathon (21k), marathon (42k), and beyond (ultra marathons) like a 50k (31 miles). pretty much most road racing and cross country running fall into long distance category.
the longest official race i’ve run so far is a super popular local 15k (https://www.boilermaker.com/). i’ve been running this race in the last 3 years. my impression is that the 15k is not a common race distance (compared to the 10k) because when i share this with people they always express surprise that such a distance is even a thing. my goal next year is to run a half marathon, so hopefully that will be my new long race record!
boilermaker fun fact: the boilermaker actually draws a good number of elite international runners – this past year the winner was john korir of kenya who’s one of the current top 10 marathon record holders!
boilermaker fun fact 2: not sure if this is verified, by i learned this through my wife. the event takes place in july, which seems odd because it’s a distance event that’s smack in the height of summer heat. but this is a couple of months before the marathon majors in the U.S (nyc, boston, chicago…) that run between september – november, so this off season schedule suits international runners that are training for the majors. i think this sort of makes sense because if they stuck the race in november, there’s probably going to be a non-existent elite pool…
anyway, here’s an easy / quick way to remember these ranges
short distance – up to a single lap on a standard outdoor track (400m)
medium distance – up to a 3k / two miles / 8 laps on a standard outdoor track
long distance – everything else