The Running Times Runners of the Year rankings take into account results from all distances on the track and roads from 3,000m to the marathon. Winning or placing highly in the year’s most competitive races is rewarded by the rankings, which place the greatest weight on races with the deepest fields. We then factor in how the runners fared in head-to-head matchups with other top-ranked runners, and, finally, consider how consistent the runner was based on his or her average weekly competitive level, calculated as point exchanges based on who beats whom in that week’s races. Times are not considered in this calculation, so a fast time run solo wins very few points—you have to face competition to be ranked as a racer.

By and large, the most competitive fields met on the track, with the IAAF World Championships in Moscow prominent. The 5,000m there on Aug. 16 emerged as the most competitive race of the year for men, with the Aug. 10 10,000m in Moscow ranked sixth most competitive. Diamond League meets filled in most of the rest of the top 10. The London Marathon ranked as the sole uber-competitive road race in the No. 3 spot and the now bi-annual IAAF World Cross Country Championships No. 10.

Mo Farah solidified his position as the dominant distance runner of the decade by securing his third consecutive No. 1 spot. He did so in style, repeating his 5,000m/10,000m double from the 2012 Olympic Games at the world championships and taking top spot at three of the most competitive races of the year.

On the women’s side, Meseret Defar cemented her comeback, returning to the top spot for the first time since 2009. Defar did so by winning the year’s most competitive race, the Aug. 29 Weltklasse Zurich 5,000m. In fact, Defar broke the tape at the top four most competitive women’s races of the year.

Runners of the Year Rankings
World Men
World Women
U.S. & Canadian Men
U.S. & Canadian Women

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Runners of the Year — World Men

Mo Farah was dominant at the front of the world’s distance runner pack all year. Starting with a 1:00:59 half marathon victory in New Orleans in February, he notched nine first-place finishes. The only runner to cross the line ahead of him on the track in 2013 was Edwin Soi, who nipped him at the June 1 Prefontaine 5,000m. On the road, late in the year, he suffered his only other second, falling to Kenenisa Bekele in the Bupa Great North Run half marathon. Having been ranked No. 1 for three consecutive years and taking the 5,000m/10,000m double at both the Olympics and the world championships, Farah is turning to the long roads in 2014, targeting the London Marathon in April. RT will present a profile of his current training in our April issue.

Runners of the Year — World Men

  1. Mohamed Farah (ENG)                    
  2. Yenew Alamirew (ETH)
  3. Hagos Gebrehiwot (ETH)                 
  4. Edwin Cheruiyot Soi (KEN)
  5. Bernard Lagat (AZ/USA)
  6. Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor (KEN)
  7. Muktar Edris (ETH)
  8. Isiah Kiplangat Koech (KEN)
  9. Paul Tanui Kipngetich (KEN)
  10. Dejen Gebremeskel (ETH)

Most Competitive Men’s Fields 2013

  1. 5,000m, IAAF World Championships, Aug. 16,  Moscow, Russia
  2. 5,000m, Belgacom Memorial Van Damme, Sept. 6, Brussels, Belgium
  3. Virgin London Marathon, April 21, London, England
  4. 5,000m, Golden Gala, June 6, Rome, Italy
  5. 5,000m, Sainsbury's Grand Prix, June 30, Birmingham, England
  6. 10,000m IAAF World Championships, Aug. 10, Moscow, Russia
  7. 5,000m, Athletissima, July 4, Lausanne, Switzerland
  8. 5,000m, Prefontaine Classic, June 1, Eugene, Ore., USA
  9. 5,000m, Herculis, July 19, Monaco
  10. IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Mar. 24, Bydgoszcz, Poland

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Runners of the Year — World Women

After a few years of placing just out of the money behind Vivian Cheruiyot, Meseret Defar returned to the top, dominating her signature distance of 5,000m. She lost at the distance only once, falling to the younger Dibaba, Genzebe, at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in May. But she won when it mattered, at the world championships in early August, and then, in the highly anticipated matchup with world champs 10,000m medalist Tirunesh Dibaba in Zurich on Aug. 29, which ended up the most competitive women’s race of the year. Both Defar and Dibaba ventured onto the roads once at the Bupa Great North Run half marathon, and both were beaten by this year’s top road racer, Priscah Jeptoo, who also won both the London and New York City marathons.

Runners of the Year — World Women

  1. Meseret Defar (ETH)
  2. Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)
  3. Priscah Jeptoo (KEN)
  4. Mercy Cherono (KEN)
  5. Gladys Cherono (KEN)
  6. Edna Ngeringwony Kiplagat (KEN)
  7. Emily Chebet Muge (KEN)
  8. Lucy Wangui Kabuu (KEN
  9. Genzebe Dibaba Kenene (ETH)
  10. Florence Chebet Kiplagat (KEN)

Most Competitive Women’s Fields 2013

  1. 5,000m, Weltklasse Zurich, Aug. 29, Zurich, Switzerland
  2. 3,000m, DN Galan, Aug. 22, Stockholm, Sweden
  3. 5,000m, IAAF World Championships, Aug. 17, Moscow, Russia
  4. 5,000m, ExxonMobil Bislett Games, June 13, Oslo, Norway
  5. 10,000m IAAF World Championships, Aug. 11, Moscow, Russia
  6. 5,000m, Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, May 18, Shanghai, China
  7. Bupa Great North Run Half Marathon, Sept. 15, South Shields, England
  8. Virgin London Marathon, April 21, London, England
  9. 5,000m Prefontaine Classic, June 1, Eugene, Ore.
  10. Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, Dec 15, New Delhi, India

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Runners of the Year – U.S. Men & Canadian Men

If the USA men’s top 10 list feels like déja vu, you’re right. The top three remain unchanged from last year, and seven of the top 10 return. Bernard Lagat, after placing sixth in the world championships 5,000m, ran his best race of the year Sept. 6 in Brussels, placing second behind Yenew Alamirew in the Memorial Van Damme 5,000m, in what was the second-most competitive field of the year. Lagat retained his top American spot from last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, all the way back to when we changed from ranking only road racers to including all venues in 2007.  Galen Rupp (first  in 10,000m at USA championships) and Ben True (sixth at world cross) stayed No. 2 and No. 3. Aaron Braun is the new man on the list, winning the 12K U.S. National Road Racing Championships in Alexandria, Va., on Nov. 17.

U.S. Men

  1. Bernard Lagat, AZ
  2. Galen Rupp, OR
  3. Benjamin True, OR
  4. Aaron Braun, CO
  5. Christopher Derrick, CA
  6. Dathan Ritzenhein, OR
  7. Andrew Bumbalough, TN
  8. Ryan Hill, NC
  9. Will Leer, MN
  10. Evan Jager, OR

Canadian Men

  1. Cam Levins
  2. Mohammed Ahmed
  3. Kelly Wiebe
  4. Robin Watson
  5. Dylan Wykes
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Runners of the Year — U.S. Women & Canadian Women

Shalane Flanagan took the top spot for USA women again, placing fourth at Boston and winning the 10,000m at the USA track championships. But Molly Huddle came on strong, particularly at year’s end when Huddle defeated Flanagan at the Nov. 17 12K U.S. National Road Racing Championships. Dartmouth senior and multiple-time NCAA champion Abbey D’Agostino moved up to third from fourth last year. While the names at the top are similar, unlike the USA men’s list only four women return from last year, with many young runners moving up.

U.S. Women

  1. Shalane Flanagan, OR
  2. Molly Huddle, IN
  3. Abbey D'Agostino, NH
  4. Kim Conley, CA
  5. Emily Sisson, RI
  6. Emily Infeld, DC
  7. Jordan Hasay, OR
  8. Shannon Rowbury, NC
  9. Emma Bates, ID
  10. Mattie Suver, CO

Canadian Women

  1. Andrea Seccafien
  2. Lanni Marchant
  3. Natasha Fraser
  4. Krista DuChene
  5. Nicole Sifuentes