The ratiefied criteria are as follows:
a) The race must be sanctioned either by the IAAF and/or the national federation, and be conducted under IAAF rules.
b) The athlete achieving the World Best Performance must be eligible to compete under IAAF rules.
c) The course must be measured by an “A” or “B” IAAF/AIMS approved measurer as defined in IAAF rule 240.3.
d) The start and finish points on the course, measured along a straight line between them, shall not be further apart than 50% of the race distance.
e) The decrease in elevation between the start and the finish shall not exceed an average of one in a thousand, i.e. 1 m per km.
f) Either the course measurer that certified the course or another “A” or “B” measurer in possession of the complete measurement data and maps must validate that the course measured was the course run by riding in the lead vehicle.
g) The course must be validated on site (i.e. within two weeks before, on the day of the race or as soon as practical after the race), preferably by a different IAAF/AIMS “A” measurer to the one that did the original measurement.
h) The athlete must undergo doping control on the date of the race.
For the inaugural list of World Best Performances, performances which do not respect criteria “g” or “h” may also be accepted.
World Best Performances set at intermediate distances within a race must comply with the above conditions and be timed according to IAAF rules. The intermediate distances must have been measured and marked during the course measurement.
It is recommended that IAAF member federations adopt the rules of the IAAF for the conduct of their own athletic competitions.
NOTE: The proposed obligation to have a 15-minute gap between the start of women’s and men’s races for the purposes of a women’s World Best Performance has been removed.
Separate World Best Performances achieved in point-to-point races not complying with the 50% separation between start and finish, in the marathon and half marathon, will also be ratified in case the performance in question is better than the World Best Performance in a race complying with the criteria listed above.
The first list of World Best Performances in Road Races will be published on 1 january 2003.
From the IAAF/AIMS publication DISTANCE RUNNING, September – December 2002, p. 27.
Anton Smeets, IAU record committee member
ton.smeets@ou.nl