1600 meters

1600 meters is a middle distance track and field running event that is slightly shorter than the more common mile run, and 100 meters longer than the much more frequent 1500 m run. The 1600-meter event puts some of the best high school runners to the ultimate test, measuring their physical and mental capabilities. With more high school runners doing this event, their VO2 max and overall mood benefit. The 1600-meter races help runners have a lower resting heart rate, help build muscle, and benefit their body composition over a short period of time. In World Athletics, events like the 1500m and 3000m are ran in a World Championship setting where in high school, they run the 1600m and 3200m, both just short of a full mile and 2 miles.

It is a standardized event in track meets conducted by the NFHS in American high school competition, often being colloquially referred to as "the mile" or "the metric mile".

When the organization went through metrication, finalized with their 1980 rule book, the 4 lap around a 440 yard, imperial-measured mile run, was replaced by the closest metric distance, 4 laps around a 400 meter track, or 8 laps around an indoor 200 meter track. That decision is not without controversy. The race is 9.344 meters shorter, similarly to the 3200 meter run being 18.688 meters short of 2 miles. Other organizations have followed the lead of World Athletics and use the 1500 meters as the closest equivalent.

While World Athletics does not recognize an official world record or world best in the 1600 meters, the mile run can be used as an approximation.