1500m Middle Distance

The 1,500 meter race is the middle of the 2 premier middle distance events. It is run in 3 and ¾ laps of the standard outdoor oval track. Though it is a middle distance event, it has been considered more of a prolonged sprint in modern times, with each lap being completed in less than a minute. Speed is also necessary, but a superior anaerobic conditioning will always be a runner's best friend. This event is also mentally taxing as it is necessary to focus on finding and maintaing a balance between speed and stamina. It is impossible for runners to run at full speed all the way, which is why tactics (knowing when to speed up, when to move in a casual, relaxed place, creating a good breathing rhythm, etc) is as much a part of the game as the physical exertion required to accomplish it. Most of the most dramatic victories happened at the last few meters of the final stretch.

This event has been most popular with the British during the 1980s, as they were the ones dominating the middle distance scene, but when the 1990s rolled in, most records had been taken by the agile African runners from Algeria, Morocco, and Kenya.

The 1,500 meter race is also an Olympic event. The current world record holder for fastest race is Hicham El Guerrouj, of Morocco, who finished the race in exactly 3 minutes and 26 seconds in one of the track and fields events in Rome, on the year 1998. This brought a 55 seconds per lap computation, which invariably gave credit to speed as a necessary factor in a distance almost as long as a mile. The world record holder for women is Qu Yunxia from China, who finished the race in 3 minutes and 50.46 seconds at a race in Beijing during 1993.

The 1,500 meter event is sometimes prolonged to 1,600 meters in American high schools, meaning running 4 laps around the standard oval track. This is often referred to as “the mile” due to the kilometric distance being roughly equivalent to a mile (which is 1,609 meters). Which is used depends on the school and sake, and for simplicity purposes, most 1,600 meter records are converted to their 1 mile equivalents to standardize.