Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
14:54 Jun 15, 2004
English to English translations [PRO] Sports / Fitness / Recreation
English term or phrase:5k (marathons)
Could anyone explain to me why races and marathons in the U.S. are designated as "5k" and so forth? (i.e., why is the metric system used when everything else in this country is listed in miles?). Is this just a matter of having an international system that applies worldwide? If anyone has any information about the origin of this nomenclature, I would be curious to learn about it.
Explanation: Hi Susana,
Funny you should bring this up as I'm running a 5k in September for charity.
We also use 5k over here (UK) but use miles for just about everything else (including long marathons, I think).
I guess it stems from the fact that 3.1 miles doesn't sound so great, and 5k/3.1 miles is just a good distance for a race, especially for beginners, too, which is why so many charities organise 5k races over here.
I think it's probably to do with convenience (5 miles is a fair bit more than 5k); perhaps the 5k originated in a particular location where the course fit the distance perfectly - who knows?
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +10