Men · World record

10,000 Metres

The current record and its documented progression: 5 ratified records from 1965 to 1978, plus 6 earlier marks recorded before the IAAF began ratifying records.

Current recordRatified

26:11.00

Joshua CheptegeiUGAValencia · 7 Oct 2020

5 years standing79.47 s improvementAll-time top 50 →

Record progression

Each step is a documented record

1965 · 27:39.89 Ron Clarke1972 · 27:38.35 Lasse Virén1973 · 27:30.80 David Bedford1977 · 27:30.47 Samson Kimobwa1978 · 27:22.47 Henry Rono 27:22.4727:39.89

19651972 · Virén 27:38.351973 · Bedford 27:30.801977 · Kimobwa 27:30.471978 · Rono 27:22.47

Documented records

5 ratified · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1358693602, imported 2 Sep 2026

MarkAthleteNationVenueDateStood
27:22.47 Henry Rono KEN Vienna, Austria 11 Jun 1978 48 yrs
27:30.47 Samson Kimobwa KEN Helsinki, Finland 30 Jun 1977 346 d
27:30.80 David Bedford GBR London, United Kingdom 13 Jul 1973 3 yrs
27:38.35 Lasse Virén FIN Munich, West Germany 3 Sep 1972 313 d
27:39.89 Ron Clarke AUS Oslo, Norway 14 Jul 1965 7 yrs

Rows link to a profile only where the athlete appears on a published list. Struck marks were rescinded or never ratified, and A marks a performance at altitude; both come from the source article's own key and markers, and eras are kept as it lists them. Nothing is inferred.

Before official ratification

6 entries · not ratified · marks from before the IAAF (now World Athletics) began ratifying records, or never ratified, shown for context only

32:35.0William Howitt GBR5 Apr 1847
32:09.0Walter George GBR25 Mar 1882
31:53.4Walter George GBR7 Apr 1884
31:40.0Walter George GBR28 Jul 1884
31:23.1William Cummings GBR28 Sep 1885
31:02.4Alfred Shrubb GBR5 Nov 1904