The British runner clocked 3:51.3 to set a new mark in Germany as Jared Nuguse finished second.
Elliott Giles enjoyed and sometimes endured a summer rollercoaster vacation. He was overlooked for Olympic selection after crashing in the finals of the 800m at the British Championships in Manchester, but was then added to the team after Jake Wightman was injured.
In Paris, he was disappointed with his semi-final exit and vowed to make a more serious step up to the 1500m and mile in 2025. With this goal in mind, his transition was immediately boosted on Sunday (September 1), when he created the world. road mile record: 3:51.3 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Competing at the New Balance KÖ MEILE meet, he bettered the previous record of 3:54.6 set by Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyon of Kenya at the adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany earlier this year. Almost as impressive was the fact that he beat Olympic 1,500m bronze medalist Jared Nuguse as the American ran into second place in 3:51.9.
The 30-year-old’s best on the track is 3:51.63, while he ran 3:30.92 for 1500m and in the 800m he broke Seb Coe’s long-standing British record of 1:43.63 in 2021.
Elliot Giles (Getty)
To add to that, world records for the road mile have been on the decline of late, having only been recognized as an official world record event exactly 12 months ago. At the inaugural World Road Championships in Latvia last fall, World Athletics certified the marks of Sam Prackle (4:01.21) and Nicky Hiltz (4:27.97) as official world records.
However, the road mile in general has a rich and long history, for example, Sydney Marie has held the 5th Avenue Mile record of 3:47.6 since 1981 in New York. In the same race, which is not eligible for record purposes, Josh Kerr also ran 3:47.9 last year.
Hobbs Kessler defeated Calum Elson and Sam Prakel (World Athletics)
The first road mile titles were contested in Latvia last October American Hobbs Kessler won the men’s race with a score of 3:56.13 Ahead of Britain’s Calum Elson, Diribe Welteji and Freweini Hailu raced the unbeaten Faith Kipyegon to claim the women’s crown.
A run down Auckland’s Queen Street in 1983 also saw Kenya’s Mike Boyte beat Steve Scott of the United States in 3:27.8. Like the 5th Avenue Mile, however, it was ineligible for entries.
READ MORE. Road Mile History
Also keep an eye out for more road mile races in the coming weeks, with the 5th Avenue Mile on September 8, which, like the Dusseldorf event, is sponsored by New Balance, plus the Vitality Westminster Mile on September 21 at The Mall in central London :
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