Sorry this is a few days late. I know many of my fans have been waiting for this post.
30 years ago a fairly obscure dude came out of nowhere and beat the world record by 6 seconds doing pretty much a solo effort. No second place exists in this category. David Moorcroft's 13 flat in Oslo in 1982 puts him in a league of his own when it comes to 5000 meter races.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t14lkaMAld0
The most competitive 5000 was the final of the 2004 Olympics in Athens when El G closed in 52 seconds to blow past Bekele in the last 50 meters. Two of the three best runners in the history of the sport in their prime duking it out. By the way...the 800 meter final in the same Olympics closed in 52 seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a78SssRsms
I'll get the best 10,000 meter race up sometime this weekend.