Hour run
The hour run is a long-distance discipline in athletics in which as many stadium laps as possible must be covered within an hour. Nowadays it is often held as a fun run event - modified as a half-hour run and as an hour pair run (only one has to run, changes can be made at will).
Since the hour run is held as a world record by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), it is also important in high-performance sports.
In the past, the rounds were either counted by the referees, or the participants in fun runs counted them themselves on the basis of trust. In the latter method, a "pilot runner" was used who ran at a medium speed and whose laps were counted by the referees. The other runners only needed to count the (relatively small) number of laps, which reduced the risk of miscounting.
More recently, runners wear transponder chips on their shoes or in their start numbers, with which each run is automatically measured by an electronic counter, so that only the number of meters from the last, unfinished lap has to be added.
World record development
Men
Distance (m) | Surname | country | date | place |
---|---|---|---|---|
Early world bests (professional athletes) | ||||
17,703 | William Jackson | GBI | 03/29/1852 | London ( Islington ) |
18,023 | John Levett | GBI | 08/28/1854 | Birkenhead |
18,379 | Lewis "Deerfoot" Bennett | United States | 10/27/1862 | London |
18,425 | Lewis "Deerfoot" Bennett | United States | 01/12/1863 | London ( Hackney Wick ) |
18,507 | Lewis "Deerfoot" Bennett | United States | 02/23/1863 | London ( Brompton ) |
18,589 | Lewis "Deerfoot" Bennett | United States | 04/03/1863 | London ( Brompton ) |
18,743 | Fred Bacon | GBI | 06/19/1897 | Rochdale |
18,878 | Harry Watkins | GBI | 09/16/1899 | Rochdale |
Early world bests (amateur athletes) | ||||
16.093 | William Fuller | GBI | 07/14/1873 | London (LB) |
17,300 | George Dunning | GBI | 01/01/1881 | London (SB) |
18,555 | Walter George | GBI | 07/28/1884 | London |
Official world records recognized by the IAAF | ||||
18,742 | Alfred Shrubb | GBI | 05/11/1904 | Glasgow |
19,021 | Jean Bouin | FRA | 07/06/1913 | Stockholm |
19,210 | Paavo Nurmi | FIN | 07.10.1928 | Berlin |
19,339 | Viljo Heino | FIN | 09/30/1945 | Turku |
19,558 | Emil Zatopek | TCH | September 15, 1945 | Prague |
20,052 | Emil Zatopek | TCH | 09/29/1951 | Stara Boleslav |
20,190 | Bill Baillie | NZL | 08/24/1963 | Auckland |
20,232 | Ron Clarke | OUT | 10/27/1965 | Geelong |
20,664 | Gaston Roelants | BEL | October 28, 1966 | Lions |
20,784 | Gaston Roelants | BEL | 09/20/1972 | Brussels |
20,907 | Josephus Hermens | HOL | 09/28/1975 | Papendal |
20,944 | Josephus Hermens | HOL | 05/01/1976 | Papendal |
21,101 | Arturo Barrios | MEX | 03/30/1991 | La Flèche |
21,285 | Haile Gebrselassie | ETH | 06/27/2007 | Ostrava |
Women
Distance (m) | Surname | country | date | place |
---|---|---|---|---|
14,141 | Anne O'Brien | IRL | 10/03/1965 | Dublin |
14,438 | Anne O'Brien | IRL | 10/10/1965 | Dublin |
15,955 | Elsa Pasquali | ITA | December 29, 1965 | Schio |
16,872 | Christa Vahlensieck | FRG | 05/24/1975 | Bochum |
16,916 | Margherita Gargano | ITA | 11/20/1976 | Milan |
17.202 | Christa Vahlensieck | FRG | 07/25/1978 | Remscheid |
Official world records recognized by the IAAF | ||||
18,084 | Silvana Cruciata | ITA | 05/02/1981 | Rome |
18,340 | Tegla Loroupe | KEN | 08/07/1998 | Borgholzhausen |
18,517 | Dire Tune | ETH | 06/12/2008 | Ostrava |
German records
- Men: 20,536 m, Werner Schildhauer , April 29, 1983, Cottbus
- Women: 17,709 m, Katrin Dörre , July 7, 1988, Leipzig