The men's 5 miles race was held at the 1908 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

 in London. It was discontinued after that in favour of the metric

Si

Si, si, or SI may refer to :- Measurement, mathematics and science :* International System of Units , the modern international standard version of the metric system...

 races of 5,000 and 10,000 metres. The competition was held on July 15, 1908 and July 18, 1908. 36 runners from 14 nations competed; seven from Great Britain, five from Sweden, four from the United States, four from Canada, four from the Netherlands, two from Denmark, two from France, two from Australasia, one from Hungary, one from South Africa, one from Greece, one from Germany, one from Bohemia, and one from Italy.

There were six preliminary heats, with the winner and the four runners-ups with the best time advancing to the final.

Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics. The 5 miles (8 km) race was only held twice at the Olympic, 1906 and 1908.

World Record	24:33.2	Alfred Shrubb Alfred Shrubb Alfred "Alfie" Shrubb was an English middle distance runner. During an amateur career lasting from 1899 to 1905 and a professional career from 1905 to 1912 he won over 1,000 races of about 1,800 started...	Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge (stadium) Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...  (GBR Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles... )	May 1904
Olympic Record	26:11.8	Henry Hawtrey Henry Hawtrey Henry Hawtrey was a British athlete, winner of run at the 1906 Summer Olympics.The British were the leading force in the long distance running in early 1900s...	Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...  (GRE Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... )	1906

First round

All first round heats were held on July 15, 1908.

First round, heat 1
Ragueneau retired in the first quarter-mile. Coales dropped out after about four miles (6 km). Hefferon led for about half the race before Svanberg passed him.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:52.0, 2 miles 10:02.8, 3 miles 15:10.4, 4 miles 20:29.4

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	John Svanberg		25:46.2
2	Charles Hefferon Charles Hefferon Charles Archer Hefferon was a South African athlete who competed mainly in the Marathon. Hefferon was born in Berkshire in England, and settled in South Africa after fighting in the Boer War...		26:05.0
3	George Blake George Blake (athlete) George Bernard Blake was an Australian sportsman who competed in the 1906 Intercalated Games and 1908 Summer Olympics as a long distance runner. He also played Australian rules football with St Kilda and Carlton in the Victorian Football League .Blake, the son of Irish immigrants, had 10 siblings...		unknown
—	William Coales William Coales William Coales was a British athlete who competed mainly in the distance events.He competed for Great Britain in the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London, Great Britain in the 3 mile team where he won the gold medal with his team mates Joe Deakin and Archie Robertson...		DNF
—	Gaston Ragueneau Gaston Ragueneau Gaston Ragueneau was a French athlete. He competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 1908 Summer Olympics in London....		DNF

First round, heat 2
Voigt broke away from the pack at about four miles (6 km).

Intermediate times: 1 mile 5:06.2, 2 miles 10:40.0, 3 miles 16:06.0, 4 miles 21:16.0

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Emil Voigt		26:13.4
2	Frederick Bellars Frederick Bellars Frederick Bellars was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.In 1908 he finished eighth in the five miles competition.-External links:*...		26:45.0
3	Pericle Pagliani		26:56.4
4	Kjeld Nielsen		27:04.8
—	Willem Wakker		DNF
—	Georgios Koulouberdas		DNF
—	Edward Dahl Edward Dahl Edward Dahl was a Swedish athlete. He competed in the 1906 Summer Olympics in Athens and in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London....		DNF

First round, heat 3
Landqvist led the entire way, gradually pulling away from the rest of the runners.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 5:07.6, 2 miles 10:32.6, 3 miles 15:53.4, 4 miles 21:26.2

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Seth Landqvist		27:00.2
2	Edward Carr		27:24.4
3	Julius Jørgensen		28:08.8
4	Charles Hall		28:24.0
5	Paul Nettelbeck		28:31.6
—	Wilhelmus Braams		DNF

First round, heat 4

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:49.6, 2 miles 9:59.8, 3 miles 15:12.4, 4 miles 20:31.4

Murphy was in the lead for the entirety of the race.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	James Murphy		25:59.2
2	Frederick Meadows Frederick Meadows Frederick Meadows was a Canadian athlete. He competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.In the 1500 metres, Meadows placed third in his initial semifinal heat with a time of 4:12.2. The heat was won by James P. Sullivan in 4:07.6.-References:...		26:16.2
3	Georg Peterson		26:50.4
4	Paul Lizandier Paul Lizandier Paul Lizandier was a French athlete who competed mainly in the 3 mile team.He competed for a France in the 1908 Summer Olympics held in London, Great Britain in the 3 mile team where he won the bronze medal with his team mates Louis de Fleurac and Joseph Dreher.-References:*...		27:10.8
—	Joe Deakin		DNF
—	John Tait John Tait (athlete) John Tait was a Canadian athlete. Known as Canada's "Boy Wonder", he competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. He was born in Toronto, Ontario.In 1908, at just 19 years of age, Tait won his first round heat of the 1500 metres with a time of 4:12.2...		DNF
—	Jacques Keyser Jacques Keyser Jacques Keyser was a Dutch athlete, who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He was born in Paris, France, where he also died, at age 68....		DNF

First round, heat 5
Fitzgerald, Robertson, and Stevenson were close together for the first mile, then Robertson broke away. This left Fitzgerald and Stevenson to fight over second place.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:52.8, 2 miles 10:02.6, 3 miles 15:18.4, 4 miles 20:37.4

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Archie Robertson		25:50.2
2	John E. Fitzgerald John E. Fitzgerald John Ebenezer Fitzgerald was a Canadian athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.In the 1500 metres, Fitzgerald placed seventh and last in his initial semifinal heat and did not advance to the final....		26:05.8
3	Samuel Stevenson		26:17.0
—	Axel Wiegandt		DNF
—	Joseph Lynch		DNF
—	Arie Vosbergen		DNF
—	Herbert Trube Herbert Trube Herbert Trube was an American athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics....		DNF

First round, heat 6
Owen had the largest margin of victory in the preliminary heats, defeating Galbraith by a full lap of the track.

Intermediate times: 1 mile 4:46.8, 2 miles 9:56.0, 3 miles 15:19.2, 4 miles 20:51.0

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Edward Owen		26:12.0
2	William Galbraith		27:23.3
3	Arnošt Nejedlý		28:29.8
—	Antal Lovas		DNF

Final

The final was held on July 18, 1908.

Fitzgerald, Murphy, Owen, Svanberg, Hefferon, and Voigt led during the final race of the 5 miles (8 km). Owen crossed the one mile (1.6 km) mark first, at 4:46.2. Hefferon was leading at the two and three mile (5 km) marks, at times of 9:54.2 and 15:05.6. After four miles (6 km), Svanberg was in front, having finished 80% of the race in 20:19.2. In the last two laps, Voigt sprinted to the lead which he kept until the end of the contest. He won the race setting a new Olympic record. As the competition has been discontinued, his Olympic record still stands.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Emil Voigt		25:11.2 OR
2	Edward Owen		25:24.0
3	John Svanberg		25:37.2
4	Charles Hefferon Charles Hefferon Charles Archer Hefferon was a South African athlete who competed mainly in the Marathon. Hefferon was born in Berkshire in England, and settled in South Africa after fighting in the Boer War...		25:44.0
5	Archie Robertson		26:13.0
6	Frederick Meadows Frederick Meadows Frederick Meadows was a Canadian athlete. He competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.In the 1500 metres, Meadows placed third in his initial semifinal heat with a time of 4:12.2. The heat was won by James P. Sullivan in 4:07.6.-References:...		26:16.2
7	John E. Fitzgerald John E. Fitzgerald John Ebenezer Fitzgerald was a Canadian athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.In the 1500 metres, Fitzgerald placed seventh and last in his initial semifinal heat and did not advance to the final....		unknown
8	Frederick Bellars Frederick Bellars Frederick Bellars was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.In 1908 he finished eighth in the five miles competition.-External links:*...		unknown
9	Seth Landqvist		unknown
—	James Murphy		DNF