Two miles facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Athletics Two miles
World records
Men	Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) 7:54.10 (2023)
Women	Meseret Defar (ETH) 8:58.58 (2007)
Short track world records
Men	Josh Kerr (GBR) 8:00.67 (2024)
Women	Genzebe Dibaba (ETH) 9:00.48 (2014)

The 2-mile run is a classic running race. It's a distance of about 3.2 kilometers, or 3,218.688 meters. This race has a long history, especially in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. Even though other distances like the 3000-meter and 5000-meter races are more common now, the 2-mile run is still held at some special events.

The main organization for athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), doesn't officially track "world records" for the 2-mile run anymore. Instead, they call them "world bests."

The fastest time ever for men in the 2-mile run is 7 minutes and 54.10 seconds. This amazing time was set by Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway on June 9, 2023. He and Daniel Komen are the only runners who have finished the 2-mile race in under 8 minutes. This means they ran each mile faster than 4 minutes on average!

For women, the fastest time is 8 minutes and 58.58 seconds. This was achieved by Meseret Defar from Ethiopia on September 14, 2007.

Fastest Runners Around the World

This section shows the best times recorded for the 2-mile run in different parts of the world. These times are up to date as of October 2024.

What the Symbols Mean

• WB = World best (the fastest time ever)
• i = Indoor performance (run inside a building)

Area	Men			Women
	Time	Athlete	Nation	Time	Athlete	Nation
Africa	7:58.61	Daniel Komen	Kenya	8:58.58 WB	Meseret Defar	Ethiopia
Asia	8:13.16	Rashid Ramzi	Bahrain	9:13.85	Mimi Belete	Bahrain
Europe	7:54.10 WB	Jakob Ingebrigtsen	Norway	9:04.84 i	Laura Muir	United Kingdom
North, Central America and Caribbean	8:03.62 i	Grant Fisher	United States	9:09.70 i	Alicia Monson	United States
Oceania	8:03.50	Craig Mottram	Australia	9:13.94 i	Kimberly Smith	New Zealand
South America	8:21.67	Hudson de Souza	Brazil	none

How the World Best Times Have Changed

This section shows how the fastest times for the 2-mile run have improved over the years.

Men's Outdoor Best Times

These are the best times recorded for men running outdoors.

Time	Athlete	Date	Place
9:17.0	Alfred Shrubb (GBR)	1903-09-12	London, United Kingdom
8:59.6	Paavo Nurmi (FIN)	1931-06-24	Helsinki, Finland
8:42.8	Gunder Hägg (SWE)	1944-08-04	Stockholm, Sweden
8:32.0	Albie Thomas (AUS)	1958-08-07	Dublin, Ireland
8:22.6	Michel Jazy (FRA)	1965-06-23	Melun, France
8:13.8	Brendan Foster (GBR)	1973-08-27	London, United Kingdom
8:09.01	Moses Kiptanui (KEN)	1994-06-30	Hechtel, Belgium
7:58.61	Daniel Komen (KEN)	1997-07-19	Hechtel, Belgium
7:54.10	Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)	2023-06-09	Paris, France

Men's Indoor Best Times

These are the best times recorded for men running indoors.

Time	Athlete	Date	Place
8:09.66	Hailu Mekonnen (ETH)	2000-02-20	Birmingham, United Kingdom
8:04.35	Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)	2008-02-16	Birmingham, United Kingdom
8:00.67	Josh Kerr (GBR)	2024-02-11	New York City, United States

Women's Outdoor Best Times

These are the best times recorded for women running outdoors.

Time	Athlete	Date	Place
10:07.0	Doris Brown (USA)	1971-07-10	Bakersfield, USA
9:19.56	Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL)	1998-06-27	Cork, Ireland
8:58.58	Meseret Defar (ETH)	2007-09-14	Brussels, Belgium

Women's Indoor Best Times

These are the best times recorded for women running indoors.

Time	Athlete	Date	Place
9:28.15	Lynn Jennings (USA)	1986-02-20	New York City, USA
9:10.50	Meseret Defar (ETH)	2008-01-26	Boston, USA
9:00.48	Genzebe Dibaba (ETH)	2014-02-15	Birmingham, United Kingdom

Related Running Races

• 3000 metres
• 3200 meters
• Mile run