| Athletics 20K run | |
|---|---|
| World records | |
| Men | Jacob Kiplimo 53:42+ (2025) |
| Women | Letesenbet Gidey 59:35 (2021) |
The20K run (20kilometres, or approximately 12.4miles) is along distance foot race. It is a rarely held race that is not recognized as anOlympic event. The event heldIAAF world championship status in 2006 only, when the existingIAAF World Half Marathon Championships briefly hosted the shorter distance.[1]
The world best for men is held byZersenay Tadese of Eritrea who ran a time of 56:01 at the2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships inDebrecen, Hungary.[2] The women's world best is held byFlorence Kiplagat of Kenya who ran a time of 1:01:54 at the 2015Barcelona Half Marathon inBarcelona, Spain.[3] IAAF records require the 20 km distance to be run on a course without a significant drop in elevation between the start and finish points and where the birds-eye distance between the start of finish points is less than ten kilometres. TheAssociation of Road Racing Statisticians has an additional criteria in that it requires records to be set in competitions of the given distance, thus it does not recognise Kiplagat's run due to it being recorded en route to a longer distance. The ARRS-recognised world record is 1:03:21 byLornah Kiplagat of theNetherlands, who also recorded her time at the 2006 World Championships.[4]
There are several annual road running competitions over the 20 km distance, mostly based in Western Europe, the United States, and Japan.[5]
TheKanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon,Dam to Dam Half Marathon andOgden Newspapers Classic Half Marathon were all previously 20 km races for much of their history.[5]
Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 55:39:
Below is a list of other times equal or superior to 1:01:56:
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