# Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 5 miles

The men's 5 miles race was held at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It was discontinued after that in favour of the metric races of 5,000 metres 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 each from the United States, Canada and the Netherlands, two each from Denmark, France and Australasia, and one each from Hungary, South Africa, Greece, Germany, Bohemia and Italy. There were six preliminary heats, with the winner and the four runners-up with the best time advancing to the final. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.

## Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics. The 5 miles (8.0 km) race was only held twice at the Olympics, in 1906 and 1908.
| World Record | 24:33.2 | Alfred Shrubb | Stamford Bridge (GBR) | May 1904 |
| Olympic Record | 26:11.8 | Henry Hawtrey | Athens (GRE) | 1906 |

## Results
### First round

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

#### 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
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | John Svanberg | Sweden | 25:46.2 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Hefferon | South Africa | 26:05.0 | q |
| 3 | George Blake | Australasia | Unknown | |
| — | William Coales | Great Britain | DNF | |
| — | Gaston Ragueneau | France | DNF | |

#### 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
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Emil Voigt | Great Britain | 26:13.4 | Q |
| 2 | Frederick Bellars | United States | 26:45.0 | q |
| 3 | Pericle Pagliani | Italy | 26:56.4 | |
| 4 | Kjeld Nielsen | Denmark | 27:04.8 | |
| — | Willem Wakker | Netherlands | DNF | |
| — | Nikolaos Kouloumberdas | Greece | DNF | |
| — | Edward Dahl | Sweden | DNF | |

#### 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
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Seth Landqvist | Sweden | 27:00.2 | Q |
| 2 | Edward Carr | United States | 27:24.4 | |
| 3 | Julius Jørgensen | Denmark | 28:08.8 | |
| 4 | Charles Hall | United States | 28:24.0 | |
| 5 | Paul Nettelbeck | Germany | 28:31.6 | |
| — | Wilhelmus Braams | Netherlands | DNF | |

#### 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.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | James Murphy | Great Britain | 25:59.2 | Q |
| 2 | Frederick Meadows | Canada | 26:16.2 | q |
| 3 | Georg Peterson | Sweden | 26:50.4 | |
| 4 | Paul Lizandier | France | 27:10.8 | |
| — | Joe Deakin | Great Britain | DNF | |
| — | John Tait | Canada | DNF | |
| — | Jacques Keyser | Netherlands | DNF | |

#### 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
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Arthur Robertson | Great Britain | 25:50.2 | Q |
| 2 | James Fitzgerald | Canada | 26:05.8 | q |
| 3 | Samuel Stevenson | Great Britain | 26:17.0 | |
| — | Axel Wiegandt | Sweden | DNF | |
| — | Joseph Lynch | Australasia | DNF | |
| — | Arie Vosbergen | Netherlands | DNF | |
| — | Herbert Trube | United States | DNF | |

#### 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
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Edward Owen | Great Britain | 26:12.0 | Q |
| 2 | William Galbraith | Canada | 27:23.3 | |
| 3 | Arnošt Nejedlý | Bohemia | 28:29.8 | |
| — | Antal Lovas | Hungary | DNF | |

### Final

The final was held on July 18, 1908.
Fitzgerald, Murphy, Owen, Svanberg, Hefferon, and Voigt led at various times during the final. Owen led after one mile (1.6 km) reached in 4:46.2, with Hefferon leading at the two and three mile (5 km) marks, with times of 9:54.2 and 15:05.6. After four miles (6 km), Svanberg was in front, with a time of 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.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Emil Voigt | Great Britain | 25:11.2 | OR |
| | Edward Owen | Great Britain | 25:24.0 | |
| | John Svanberg | Sweden | 25:37.2 | |
| 4 | Charles Hefferon | South Africa | 25:44.0 | |
| 5 | Arthur Robertson | Great Britain | 26:13.0 | |
| 6 | Frederick Meadows | Canada | 26:16.2 | |
| 7 | James Fitzgerald | Canada | Unknown | |
| 8 | Frederick Bellars | United States | Unknown | |
| 9 | Seth Landqvist | Sweden | Unknown | |
| — | James Murphy | Great Britain | DNF | |