The mile run (5,280 feet or exactly 1,609.344 metres, but considered by the IAAF to be 1,609.32 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field’s switch to metric distances in the 1900s and retained its popularity, with the chase for the four-minute mile in the 1950s a high point for the race. In spite of the roughly equivalent 1500 metres race, the mile run is present in all fields of athletics and it remains the only imperial distance for which the IAAF records an official world record. Although the mile does not feature at any major championship competition, the Wanamaker Mile and Dream Mile races are among the foremost annual middle-distance races indoors and outdoors, respectively. The current mile world record holders are Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj with 3:43.13 minutes and Svetlana Masterkova of Russia with the women’s record of 4:12.56 minutes.
