National Records
Record keeping varies widely from country to country. Most countries do not recognize road records. The following is an attempt to list national records using a consistent set of standards. Records reflect performances in the ADR database. Since the ADR database only tracks runners who have met certain time standards, there will be national records that are excluded from these lists since they do not meet the criteria for inclusion in the ADR database.
Citizenship is determined as of the date of the race with exceptions for countries that have since merged or split. In such cases, citizenship is assigned according to current countries. East and West Germany are both indicated by GER; runners representing the former Soviet Union are assigned to currently existing countries where known.. ENG, NIR, SCO, and WAL are listed as well as GBR.
Road Records
Record quality performances are those made on standard (loop) courses that are believed to be accurate.
Point-to-point courses are defined as those courses whose start and finish lie more than 30% of the race distance apart and/or whose drop exceeds 1 meter per kilometer. If the drop is less than 5 meters per kilometer, performances are considered statistically valid. Such performances are included if they are better than the standard course mark (or if there is no standard course mark) and have an "a" appended to the time, indicating these are potentially aided performances.
Performances on point-to-point courses whose drop exceeds 5 meters per kilometer are not considered statistically valid and are not included.
Indoor Track Records
Marks achieved on indoor tracks of 200 meters or less are included. Times to hundredths of seconds are auto-times; times to tenths of seconds are hand times.
Outdoor Track Records
Times to hundredths of seconds are auto-times; times to tenths of seconds are hand times.