What Was The Race of the Decade? — Introduction

By LetsRun.com
December 11, 2019

As the 2010s draw to a close, it’s time to look back at everything that’s happened over the past 10 years and hand out some awards. And we’re starting with the most contentious of all of them: RACE OF THE DECADE.

A race can be great for so many reasons — a fast time, a close finish, a thrilling comeback. Those are the things that make our sport great, but they’re also why crowning a definitive Race of the Decade is so difficult. No matter what race we choose, we’d have someone complaining that we should have picked a different one.

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So that’s why we’re turning this over to you, LetsRun nation. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be holding a March Madness-style tournament pitting the top 64 races of the 2010s against each other until only one remains. That race will be crowned Race of the Decade.

What does the “best” race mean in the context of this bracket? That’s really up to you. When in doubt, go with your gut.

How it works is simple: we’ve divided the 64 races (which were selected with your input) into four regions, broken down by category (international distance races, road races/cross country, US distance races, and sprints), and seeded the races just like the NCAA basketball tournament. Each day, vote for the race you want to see advance. The race with the most votes in each matchup moves on to the next round. We’ll keep going until only one race remains.

A note on race selection: all races in the must have taken place since January 1, 2010 (duh). Only running events were considered. No exhibitions (Breaking2, INEOS 1:59 Challenge).

The bracket schedule will play out as follows. All voting closes at midnight ET on the final day of each round.

-Round of 64: December 11-12
-Round of 32: December 13-15
-Round of 16: December 16-17
-Quarterfinals: December 18-19
-Semifinals: December 20-22
-Final: December 23-25
-Winner revealed: After XMas.

Now it’s time to vote! Click on the links below to view the matchups in each region and make your voice heard.

*RUDISHA REGION *KIPCHOGE REGION *LAGAT REGION *BOLT REGION

Full bracket below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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