The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of the organisers of long-distance
road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
These events are usually classified as long-distance ...
races. It was founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of
marathon race directors. Its membership was extended in 1986 to include all road races. In June 2016, over 400 race organisations were members.
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Objectives
According to its Articles of Association, AIMS's objectives are:
# to foster and promote distance running throughout the world;
# to work with the
World Athletics
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...
on all matters relating to international road races, and;
# to exchange information, knowledge and expertise among the members of the Association.
Course measurement and world records
AIMS works together with World Athletics to ensure that its road races are measured accurately. All AIMS races must be measured by an accredited AIMS/IAAF course measurer. In addition, in order for a road race world record to be ratified by IAAF, it must satisfy certain conditions. Among these are that:
* a course must not be, from start to finish, downhill by more than 1 metre in height per kilometre of length
* the separation between start and finish must not be more than 50% of the length of the course
The second condition is intended to ensure that a course is not designed in such a way that a tail wind may improve times unduly, but does not apply for the purpose of establishing Olympic and World Championship qualifying times.
All races which have obtained
World Athletics Label Road Races
World Athletics Label Road Races are races that the World Athletics (until 2019: ''IAAF'') designates as one of the "leading road races around the world." The classification was first introduced for the 2008 running season, upon the suggestion of ...
have been subject to AIMS/WA course measurement standards.
Other activities
The magazine “Distance Running” is published four times a year and distributed free to runners at events organised by AIMS members.
Since 2013 the organisation has hosted a gala dinner each year at which the Best Marathon Runner award is given to honour the year’s most outstanding distance athletes. There is also a Green Award and a Social Award.
See also
*
List of World Athletics Label marathon races
*
World Marathon Majors
*
World Athletics Label Road Races
World Athletics Label Road Races are races that the World Athletics (until 2019: ''IAAF'') designates as one of the "leading road races around the world." The classification was first introduced for the 2008 running season, upon the suggestion of ...
*
Short course prevention factor
Notes
External links
AIMS website
{{Authority control
Athletics organizations
Marathon running
Sports organizations established in 1982
1982 establishments in England