3000m Middle Distance

Officially, the 3,000 meter event is considered a middle-distance event in professional and Olympic races, but in American high schools, it is considered more of a long-distance event (mainly because they had no 5000 m or 10000m track event). Regardless, the 3000 m race is considered one of the premier amateur track events, although its participation in the Olympics has been replaced with the 5000 m one. Additionally, High schools usually use the 3,200 m race, which completes eight rounds around the standard outdoor track and roughly equivalent to 2 miles, hence the colloquial term (2 mile race).

The 3000 m middle distance track event is one of the toughest races in the field of athletics as it requires an extraordinary amount of endurance and stamina, a focused mentality, and a bit of speed. 3000 meters is a pretty long distance, and while stamina takes up most of the requirements, a bit of speed is also required in the final stretch, especially since this race is officially considered a middle distance event.

The 3,000 meter race requires seven and a half laps around the standard oval outdoor track. It is also collectively known as the “3k” race. There hasn't been a 3,000 meter men's race in the Olympics, nor are there any competitions in the IAFF (International Association of Athletic Federations). In the European circuits, the race isn't as popular as other races, such as the 3000 steeplechase and the 5,000 m run, but it still has its fair share of patrons and prestige.


However, the 3,000 meter race had been a part of women's Olympics and World Championships, and was even the standard discipline for middle distance races. Granted, it was removed from the 1996 Olympics and the world championships on 1995, and was replaced by the 5,000 meter race, with other IAFF tournaments following their lead.

The world record for both indoor and outdoor 3,000 meter races, is Daniel Komen, a middle and long distance runner from Kenya. Among his many titles, he owns the world record of beating the 3,000 meter race in 7 minutes and 20.67 seconds.