What is the half-marathon World Record?

Question

What are the conditions to determine when that record is OK?

Answer 1

actually the current World Record, awaiting certification from the IAAF, is 59:16, by Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru. It was run at Rotterdam on September 11th of 2005.



An Eritrean, Zersenay Tadesse, ran 59:05, but the course he ran was not certifiable by the IAAF, and is therefore not considered an official world record.



In order to qualify as a world record, certain criteria must be met. Firstly, the finish of the race must be within 30% of the race distance from the start. This rules out point to point courses. Secondly, the race may not have an altitude drop of more than 1 metre per kilometre. This is to prevent athletes from running times that may be aided by either wind or a downhill course.

Answer 2

59:16 * Samuel Wanjiru 10 11 1986 KEN Rotterdam 11 09 2005

Answer 3

Back in 2000, Paul Tergat ran it in 59 min 5 sec!