The Greatest Race of All Time, What does that mean? Well, you might think that it means the greatest race that has ever been run. But, today it means something else. Because today, I will take the role of race director and make a list of the fourteen best overall distance male and female runners ever, (seven male and seven female, female edition to come soon) to assemble the greatest fun run of all time.

The 5k or 5000 meters as it is also known has been one of the premier distance races to watch in the past decade or longer. It is also one of the most common running distances for runners new to the sport other than, let’s say a marathon. What makes it so good to watch and intriguing to run, you may ask? Well, It is one of the shorter “Distance” races, and it is fun to watch and race with the varying possibilities of it being run. Some examples are Paul Chelimo alternating slow and fast laps or the Sit and Kick, the possibilities don’t end there but for the sake of time, I’m just going to list those. This event has been a meeting ground for the greatest athletes ever whether it is Jakob Ingebrigsten going up in distance to run it or Eliud Kipchoge who started his career in this event. However, today we are going to make this meeting ground one of American running’s favorite things, a fun run. The easiest way to do this would be to gather the seven fastest times and the owners of them and put them in the race. But, today we are going to make the field a combination of runners from all events and those that are exciting to watch, which would make this race more fun to watch. Now let us get into the breakdown of the field.

1. Eliud Kipchoge

Arguably the Greatest of All Time in distance running, is Eliud Kipchoge (Argument to come in a later edition). He is most known for being the World Record holder in the marathon, but he was first a World Champion and Olympic Medalist in the 5k. In this race, I think Eliud would take his marathon excellency and track 5k skills to become a great road 5k runner, and even better, a great member of this fun run.

2. Kenenisa Bekele

Like Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele started his career on the track and was very good, at that. He has placed first once in the 5k and twice in the 10k at the Olympics and he has placed first once in the 5k and four times in the 10k at the World Championships. He like Kipchoge once again, would take his skills from his prior events and translate them to perform well as a member of this fun run.

3. Steve Prefontaine

The face of U.S running and one of the first-ever Nike-sponsored athletes Steve Prefontaine is another great addition to this field. Steve who is from the oldest time period of the group hasn’t run some of the fastest times ever. However, he was very dominant during his career setting American records from the 2000 meters to the 10000 meters. I think if he was a part of the sport today he would succeed with his incredible discipline and motivation, making him an excellent addition to this field.

4. Hicham El Guerrouj

The World Record holder in the 1500 and the mile, Hicham El Guerrouj also ran the 5K and he was quite talented. He, alongside Bekele and Kipchoge, battled In the Olympics and World Championships for many years. This competitiveness makes this race better and because of that Hicham El Guerrouj is in this race.

5. Jakob Ingebrigsten

The Norwegian prodigy, Jakob Ingebrigsten is predominantly a Mile/1500 meter specialist, however, he is also a great 5k runner. Even though he doesn’t possess the fastest 5k time ever, he has shown competitiveness when among the best of the best, hence his World Championship title in 2022. Jakob would excel in this race if he would be able to hang on to the greats and out-kick them at the end

6. Joshua Cheptegei

A popular theme amongst this group is that most of its members are or used to be World Record holders and Joshua Cheptegei is no exception. He holds two World Records in the 5k and 10k and for both records, he broke Kenenisa Bekele’s previous World Records he has also shown dominance on the roads. This race would be nothing without its World Record Holder, that is why Joshua Cheptegei is a part of this field.

7. Daniel Komen

Even though his career didn’t last long, Daniel Komen was a great athlete. He set multiple World Records with his last standing record being in the 3000 meters. He was also an exceptional 5k runner being one of four men to run under 12:40 and he is the third fastest over 5k within this group. That is why Daniel Komen is the seventh and final member of this field.