- Bernard Lagat
Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (b. December 12, 1974, Kapsabet, Kenya) is a middle and long distance athlete.
- Steve Prefontaine
Steve Roland Prefontaine (commonly referred to as Pre by runners and fans) was an American Olympic runner born in Coos Bay, Oregon. Prefontaine was primarily a long distance runner, and at one point held the American record in every running event from the 2000 meters to the 10,000 meters. Prefontaine had one leg longer than the other (a common condition that does not affect running speed), …
- Craig Mottram
Craig Mottram is an Australian long distance and middle distance runner. Born on 18 June 1980 in Frankston, Victoria, Mottram specialises in the 5000 metres event. He attended the prestigious Geelong Grammar School. It is there that he found his niche in running and was captain of the school team in his year. On August 14, 2005, Mottram reached a career highlight, coming third in the 5000 metres event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, …
- Regina Jacobs
Regina Jacobs (born August 28, 1963) is a former middle distance runner from the United States. After graduating from Stanford University she represented the USA in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, before ending her career in disgrace after a positive drug test. Jacobs took second place in the 1500 m race at the 6th World Championships in Athletics in Athens (4:04.63) in 1997, …
- Steve Ovett
Stephen Michael James ("Steve") Ovett (born October 9, 1955), is a former middle distance runner from England. He was gold medalist in the 800 m at the 1980 Olympic Games, and set world records for 800 m, 1500 m and 1 mile. To this day, he holds the UK record for 2 miles, which he set in 1978. Born in Brighton and educated at Varndean Grammar School, Steve Ovett was an outstandingly talented teenage athlete.
- Haile Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassie is a long distance track and road running athlete born as one of ten children in Asella, Arsi Province, Ethiopia. He is considered by many to be one of the best distance runners of all time, having broken 24 world records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles.
- Maria Mutola
Maria de Lurdes Mutola (born October 27, 1972 in Maputo) is an athlete from Mozambique who has specialised in the 800 m.
- Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Johannes Nurmi (June 13, 1897 Turku - October 2, 1973 Helsinki) was a Finnish runner. He was known as one of the "Flying Finns"; a term given to him, Hannes Kolehmainen, Ville Ritola and others for their distinction in running. During the 1920s, Nurmi was the best middle and long distance runner in the world, setting world records on distances between 1500 m and 20 km.
- Jim Ryun
James Ronald ("Jim") Ryun (born April 29, 1947) is an American former track athlete and politician, who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1997 to 2007, representing the 2nd District in Kansas. In the 2006 election, Ryun was defeated by Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda. Years prior to his political career Jim Ryun had an athletic career that saw him become one of the greatest runners of all time, …
- Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister CBE (born March 23, 1929) is a British former athlete best known as the first man to run the mile in less than 4 minutes. Bannister became a distinguished neurologist and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford retiring in 2001. He was born in Harrow, London.
- Peter Snell
Peter George Snell, DCNZM, OBE (born December 17 1938 in Opunake) is a New Zealand former athlete. He had one of the shortest careers of world famous international sportsmen yet achieved so much that he was voted New Zealand’s ‘Sports Champion Of The (20th) Century’. A protege of the great New Zealand athletics coach Arthur Lydiard, Snell is known for the three Olympic gold medals he won, but is also respected not so much because of what he achieved, …
- Noah Ngeny
Noah Kiprono Ngeny (born November 2, 1978) is a Kenyan athlete, the surprise winner of the 1500 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- Herb Elliott
Herbert James ("Herb") Elliott AC MBE (born February 25, 1938) is a former Australian athlete, one of the world's greatest middle distance runners. He never lost a race over 1500 metres or the mile and during his career he broke the four-minute mile on 17 occasions. Elliott, a native of Perth, Western Australia, attended Aquinas College in Perth Aquinas College, Perth.
- John Walker
John George Walker (born January 12, 1952 in Papakura) is a former middle distance runner from New Zealand. Walker is best known for winning the Olympic Games 1500 meters in Montreal 1976. This achievement came during an Olympic games that were boycotted by 22 African countries to protest against a tour of South Africa by the "All Blacks", the New Zealand national Rugby team.
- Wilson Kipketer
Wilson Kipketer (born December 12, 1970) is a Danish former middle distance runner. He holds the current world records at both indoor and outdoor 800 and the indoor 1000 metre distances. While dominating the 800 m distance for a decade, remaining undefeated for a three-year period and running 8 of the 11 currently all-time fastest times, he never won an Olympic gold medal.
- Sonia O'Sullivan
Sonia O'Sullivan (born November 28, 1969) is an Irish runner from Cobh, County Cork. She was one of the leading female 5000 m runners for most of the 1990s and early 2000s. Her crowning achievement was a Gold medal at the 1995 World Athletics Championships.She won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics, narrowly beaten by the Romanian Gabriela Szabo and in front of third placed Ethiopian Gete Wami.
- Noureddine Morceli
Noureddine Morceli (born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian athlete, winner of the 1500 m run at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Born in Tenes, Algeria, Noureddine Morceli rose to athletic prominence after winning the silver medal in the 1500 m at the World Junior Championships in 1988. Morceli attended college in Riverside, California, and throughout his career, in winter, he would return there to enjoy the mild climate and train.
- Benita Johnson
Benita Johnson (born 6 May, 1979 in Mackay, Queensland as "Benita Jaye Willis") is an Australian distance runner. In 2004, she won the 8K at the 2004 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and also the title at the Great North Run. She was 24th in the 10,000 meters at the 2004 Olympic Games. More recently, she set an Australian national record and established a personal best time in the marathon of 2:22:36 at the 2006 Chicago Marathon.
- Santhi Soundarajan
Santhi Soundarajan (also spelled "Santhi Soundararajan", born April 1981) is an Indian athlete who competes in the middle distance track events. She was stripped of a silver medal won at the 2006 Asian Games after failing a gender verification test, disputing her eligibility to participate in the women's competition.
- Gary Reed
Gary Reed (born 25 October, 1981) is a Canadian middle distance runner.
- Andy Baddeley
Andy Baddeley (born June 20 1982, Upton, Merseyside is an English middle distance runner. Andy Baddeley's Official Website He finished sixth in the 1500 metres final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg. He also competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and has a silver medal from the 2005 Summer Universiade. He finished second in the 1500 metres final at the European Cup in Athletics 2007 in Munich, with a time of 3:48.08 minutes.
- Steve Scott
Steve Scott (born May 5, 1956) is an American athlete who is one of the greatest milers in American history. The silver medalist in the 1,500 meters at the inaugural IAAF World Outdoor Championships at Helsinki in 1983, Scott owns the U.S. Outdoor mile record of 3:47.69 (1982) and U.S. Indoor records in the mile (3:51.8-1981) and 2000 meters (4:58.6-1981). Track & Field News ranked Scott #1 in the U.S. on 10 occasions, …
- Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (born March 20, 1974 in Brantford, Ontario) is a world class middle distance runner. Sullivan competes in 1000 metre, 1500 metre, and mile events and represents Canada. His personal best times are 3:31.71 for the 1500 (set in June 2000) and 3:50.36 for the mile. He is the Canadian record-holder at both distances as well as the indoor 3000 m, 7:40.17 (set February 9 2007). His best Olympic showing is a fifth-place finish at Sydney.
- Matt Tegenkamp
Matt Tegenkamp (born January 19, 1982) is a professional distance runner from Lee's Summit, Missouri. He is the American 2 Mile Record Holder with a time of 8:07.07, set at the Prefontaine Classic in 2007. He also holds a 5,000 meter PR of 13:04.9, which makes him the fourth fastest American all-time at the distance, and a 1,500 meter PR of 3:35.96. Tegenkamp's mile best is 3:56.38, …
- Adam Goucher
Adam Goucher (born February 18 1975) is an American cross-country and track and field athlete. He primarily competes in middle distance events and is featured in "Running With The Buffaloes", a book revolving around the 1998 season of the University of Colorado cross country team. Goucher attended Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado and graduated in 1994. He won the Foot Locker National High School Cross Country Championship in 1993, …
- Mbulaeni Mulaudzi
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (born September 8, 1980) is a South African middle distance runner. His best season so far has been 2004, when he won the World Indoor Championships and an Olympic silver medal. But the season of 2006 was also very good for him. That year he won nearly all his racesAt the 2006 World Indoor Championships he won a silver medal.
- John Landy
John Michael Landy, AC, CVO, MBE, (born April 12, 1930) is a former track athlete and was the 26th Governor of Victoria, Australia. He married his wife, Lynne, in 1971, and they have two children. While serving as Governor, John and Lynne Landy resided at Government House, Melbourne. He retired from the position after serving a five-year term on 7 April 2006, and was succeeded by medical researcher David de Kretser.
- Bouchra Ghezielle
Bouchra Ghezielle (born 19 May, 1979 in Khemisset) is a Morrocan-French track and field athlete, now competing for France. She compete mainly on the 1500 m distance but also on 800 m and 3000 m distances. She competed at the 2004 Olympic Games for Morocco.
- Alberto Juantorena
Alberto Juantorena Danger (born 3 December, 1950) is a former Cuban track athlete. At the 1976 Summer Olympics, "White Lightning" became the first athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m. Born in Santiago de Cuba, Juantorena first played basketball, until he was discovered by a Polish track coach, Zygmunt Zabierzowski, who convinced him to start running. Only a year later, Juantorena was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 400 m event at the Munich Olympics (1972).
- Sam Burley
Sam Burley (born February 15 1981, in St. Ignatius, Montana) is an American middle-distance track athlete. He currently holds the American record in the 4x800m relay along with David Krummenacker, Jebreh Harris, and Khadevis Robinson. Their time, set in 2006, broke the previous world record. Burley was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a five-time NCAA All-American, the 2002 NCAA national champion in the 800m, …
- Marcus O'Sullivan
Marcus O'Sullivan (born December 22, 1961) is a retired Irish middle distance runner. Although he wasn't planning to go to any of Ireland's universities, O'Sullivan's running encouraged him to go to Villanova University at 19. After four years of education at Villanova, O'Sullivan graduated with a degree in accounting and later attained an MBA and a CPA. O'Sullivan quickly became a world class runner, and took part in four summer Olympic Games.
- David Moorcroft
David Moorcroft (April 10, 1953) was an English 1500 m and 5000 m runner whose career spanned the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was also Chief Executive of UK Athletics from 1997 to 2006 Moorcroft was born in Coventry, West Midlands. He was a pupil at Woodlands Comprehensive School. He studied Physical Education and Sport Science at Loughborough University. He was a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club.
- Suzy Favor-Hamilton
Suzy Favor-Hamilton (born August 8, 1968) is an American professional middle distance runner.
- Sarah Jamieson
Sarah Jamieson (born 24 March 1975 in Perth) is an Australian middle distance runner.
- Rashid Ramzi
Rashid Ramzi is an athlete competing internationally for Bahrain in the 800 and 1500 metres. In the past he has competed for Morocco where he came from. In 2005, Rashid Ramzi became the first athlete in history to win gold medals in the 800 m and 1500 m in the same World Championship, and the first to perform this feat in a global championship (World Championship or Olympic Games) since Peter Snell did so in 1964.
- Yelena Soboleva
Yelena Soboleva (born 3 August, 1982) is a Russian middle distance runner who specializes in the 1500 metres. In February 2006 she established a new world indoor record of 3:58.28 seconds in a race in Moscow. A month later she won a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in the same city.
- Glenn Cunningham
Glenn V. Cunningham (August 4, 1909 - March 10, 1988) was an American distance runner and athlete considered by many the greatest American miler of all time. He received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1933. Cunningham set a world record for the mile and indoor world records for the 1500 meters and the mile. He was on the 1932 and 1936 Olympic teams. In the 1,500-meter final at the 1936 Games in Berlin, …
- Janeth Jepkosgei
Janeth Jepkosgei (born December 13, 1983) is a Kenyan middle distance runner. Her breakthrough year was 2006. On March 24, 2006 she won the women's 800 metres event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games with a time of 1 minute, 57.88 seconds. She managed to beat veteran runner Maria Mutola of Mozambique. Later same year she won African Championships in Athletics at the 800 metres event. She also beat Kenyan 800 metres women's record twice.
- Peter Elliott
Peter Elliott (born October 9, 1962 in Rotherham, UK) is a former world class middle distance runner who won medals at the Commonwealth Games, the European Championships and World Championships and the Olympic Games between 1986 and 1990. Elliott was brought up in Rawmarsh, a small town near Rotherham, South Yorkshire. He attended Rawmarsh Comprehensive School and later worked as a joiner at British Steel.
- Eamonn Coghlan
Eamon Coghlan (born November 21, 1952 in Dublin) is an Irish 4-time Olympian and retired runner. Coghlan was born in Drimnagh, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland. He was very small so he had disadvantages against larger runners throughout his career. Coghlan's first running club was the now defunct Celtic Athletic Club. On its break up he moved to the Metropolitan Harriers club where he won the Leinster colleges 5000m title in 1970.