Running races range from jogging to sprinting and unlike walking, at some point a participant’s both feet are not in contact with the ground. The history of running is as old as cave times when an ancient man had to run constantly in search of its prey. The ancient Greeks started Olympics approximately 2700 years back to honor the God Zeus. The first-ever recorded running race was a sprint. Another Record of competitive running is found in the history back in 1829 BCE in the form of Tailteann Games.
Sprints are the type of a race where a participant must run as fast as he can until the finish. They are the shortest races. Middle distance races are longer than sprints. long-distance races need much stamina as they are around 5000-10000 m long.
Marathon and Ultra marathon are exclusive races that are also over a long distance. A participant is required to wear his official race number at all times during the race. A participant must know the entire track himself. He can carry a map for assistance. One particularly tough marathon event is the Marathon of The Sands that lasts for six days and is run in African Sahara.
Running Sports
- Fell Running — running and racing done off-road or on any over upland country, with a significant hill component.
- Cross Country Running — individuals or teams run races which involve courses over natural terrain.
- Marathon — a distance running athletics event over 42.2 km.
- Skyrunning — a running sport in which athletes compete on a course that leads through mountains.
- Ultramarathon — very long-distance endurance events, ranging from greater than Marathon distance to several days. Ultramarathons can either cover a specified distance, or take place during a specified time frame, with the winner covering the most distance in that time.
- Ekiden — long-distance relay running typically held on roads.
- Athletics (track and field) events
- Sprint (Athletics) — track and field running events over short distances, such as 100m, 200m, 400m.
- Middle Distance — a set of track and field running events over distances such as 800m, 1500m.
- Endurance Running — track and field running races over distances of 3kms and greater
- Racerunning — a track and field racing sport for disabled athletes, in which they use a specially designed tricycle.
- Joggling — a sport that combines running and juggling.
- Canicross — a variant of cross country running in which runners have to complete the course accompanied by their dogs.
- Aquajogging — water running competitions, athletes race in the water while maintaining an upright position.
- Tower Running — grueling races up tall man-made structures. Also known as Stair Climbing.
Related Pages
- Ultra-endurance events and marathons
- The Olympic Games marathon
- Marathon records
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports