The 2 mile (10,560 feet or exactly 3,218.688 metres) is a historic running distance. Like the mile run, it is still contested at some invitational meets, perhaps because it provides an easier record to break for meet promoters (and corresponding bonus payment for participants), as well as its historical chronology. It is largely superseded by the 3000 m and 5000 m, and by the 3200 m in NFHS American high school competitions. The IAAF no longer keeps official world records for this distance; they are called world best instead.
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The world best for men is 7:58.61 set by Kenyan Daniel Komen in Hechtel, Belgium on 19 July 1997. The women's record is 8:58.58, set by Ethiopian Meseret Defar in Brussels, Belgium on 14 September 2007.
All-time top 25
Men
High school boys
Note: this list only covers boys because the history of 2 mile running largely occurred before Title IX, before high school girls were allowed to compete, which occurred about the same time as conversion to metric distances.