The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to 3 miles 188 yards or 16,404 feet 2 inches. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over 12+1⁄2 laps of a standard track. The same distance in road running is called a 5K run; referring to the distance in metres rather than kilometres serves to disambiguate the two events.
The 5000 m has been present on the Olympic programme since 1912 for men and since 1996 for women. Prior to 1996, women had competed in an Olympic 3000 metres race since 1984. The 5000 m has been held at each of the World Championships in Athletics in men's competition and since 1995 in women's.
Runners in the 5000 metres at IAAF World Championships in Osaka 2007
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least 3 km (1.9 mi). Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength.
A group of amateur runners in a long-distance race in Switzerland.
Burton Holmes' photograph entitled "1896: Three athletes in training for the marathon at the Olympic Games in Athens".
Paavo Nurmi, also known as the "Flying Finn", at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris; at the time, he won Olympic gold in the 5,000-meter long-distance running.
Men in the 10 km run section of the 2011 Grand Prix de Triathlon in Paris.