10 000 m

Twenty-five laps, the longest track event at championships. The start is a curved line and the field runs as a pack for most of the distance, with the race usually decided in the last two or three kilometres by surges or a final sprint. Concentration counts for a lot: the best men run about 26 and a half minutes, the best women about 29, and losing count of the laps is not unheard of. Lapped runners must give way to the leaders. Times are recorded to the hundredth, without a wind reading. Many of the same athletes race the half marathon and marathon, and the track record has fallen to road-trained runners more than once.