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Athletics and Running

Athletics is a family of sports built around running, walking, jumping, and throwing, with standardized competition formats and record recognition. Internationally, World Athletics is the world governing body for track and field athletics, founded in Stockholm on 17 July 1912 as the IAAF.

In practice, "athletics and running" commonly groups stadium-based track races with running disciplines contested on roads and natural terrain, plus race walking and the field events that share the same competition system.

• Track running - sprints, middle and long distance, hurdles, steeplechase, and relays.
• Road running - certified road races and championship formats including half marathon and marathon.
• Cross country running - off-road racing on grass, dirt, mud, and varied course features.
• Mountain and trail running - endurance racing on natural terrain, typically off-road with limited paved sections.
• Ultra running - any running distance longer than the marathon distance of 42.195 km.
• Race walking - judged walking events with strict contact and straight-leg requirements.
• Field and combined events - jumps, throws, and combined events that sit alongside the running disciplines in athletics competitions.

Track and field (stadium athletics)

World Athletics presents core stadium event groupings that include sprints (100m, 200m, 400m), middle and long distance (including 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10000m, and 3000m steeplechase), hurdles (100m hurdles, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles), plus jumps, throws, combined events, and race walks.

Track racing depends on uniform surfaces, lane markings, and consistent officiating of starts, lanes (where applicable), and finish order, which is why the sport is tightly tied to published competition and technical rules.

Road running

Road running covers races measured and contested on public roads, typically with mass starts and time-based placing. World Athletics maintains requirements for record-eligible road performances and publishes guidance for certified road events and label race standards.

• World Athletics lists certified road race categories including 1 mile, 5km, 10km, half marathons, 35km, marathons, 50km, and 100km.
• For certified road performances, World Athletics requires the course to hold a valid International Course Measurement Certificate established no more than five years before the race date.
• World Athletics Label Road Race Regulations (for 2026 labels) identify record-eligible label categories such as Road Mile, 5km, 10km, Half Marathon, Marathon, and 50km, and also define additional non-record distances that can count toward rankings in road-running groups.

Cross country running

Cross country is designed around natural terrain and technical course features, with competition shaped by footing, turns, short climbs, and surface changes rather than uniform track conditions. World Athletics describes its Cross Country Championships as a one-day event that showcases the host landscape and challenges runners on technical terrain.

In the World Athletics Cross Country Championships event concept, the program includes senior men’s and women’s races, under-20 races, and a mixed relay, with participation described as approximately 550 runners from about 52 countries.

Mountain, trail, and ultra running

World Athletics describes mountain and trail running as endurance running where athletes race for the fastest time over a set course. Technical guidance for the discipline notes that courses take place on various types of natural terrain and are mostly off-road, while allowing limited paved sections to link trails when necessary.

World Athletics defines ultrarunning (ultramarathon) as any distance longer than the marathon distance of 42.195 km. The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) is described by World Athletics as the worldwide governing body for ultramarathon running events, established in 1984 and affiliated with World Athletics.

Race walking

Race walking is judged by technique rather than speed alone. World Athletics describes the core requirements as continuous contact (one foot in contact with the ground at all times) and a straightened advancing leg from first contact with the ground until it passes under the body, which is what differentiates race walking from running.