100m / 110m Hurdles Rules
A sprint over 10 hurdles — 100m for women, 110m for men, same principle either way.
Run in lanes over a fixed set of 10 evenly-spaced hurdles at a standard height for the category.
- •Fastest time over the distance wins
- •Knocking a hurdle down doesn't disqualify a runner, but usually costs enough time to lose the race
- •League standings can rank by personal best or head-to-head placings
- •Trailing a leg around a hurdle instead of over it is a disqualifiable foul
- •Deliberately knocking down another lane's hurdle with a hand/foot is also a foul
- •A false start disqualifies that athlete, same as flat sprints
Heights and spacings differ by category
Hurdle height and spacing are set by age group and gender, and getting them wrong makes an event either dangerous or trivial. Senior men race 110m over 1.067m hurdles; senior women race 100m over 0.838m. Junior and masters categories use different heights again.
Check the specification for every category on your programme before the meet, and mark the correct positions on the track. A hurdle set at the wrong spacing changes the stride pattern completely and is the most common error in club hurdles competition.
Knocking hurdles and disqualification
Knocking a hurdle down is not itself a disqualification, and athletes are not penalised for it provided it was not deliberate. What does disqualify is trailing a foot or leg below the horizontal plane of the top of a hurdle, or running through a hurdle in another lane.
Modern hurdles are weighted to fall forward under a set force, which makes clattering a few of them survivable. It is still slow, and rhythm rather than raw speed is what separates hurdlers in a club league.
Common questions
How many hurdles are in a race?
Ten, in every standard sprint hurdles event regardless of distance or category. What changes is the height, the spacing between them and the run-in to the first hurdle.
Is knocking a hurdle a disqualification?
No, provided it is not deliberate. It costs time but the result stands. Trailing a leg outside the hurdle or interfering with another lane's hurdles is a disqualification.
What stride pattern do hurdlers use?
Three strides between hurdles is the standard for senior sprint hurdles. Developing athletes often use five, which is fine, but the transition to three is the main technical milestone in the event.
How do you run hurdles safely in a club league?
Set heights by age category, never higher, and allow athletes to race at a lower height if they are learning. Ensure all hurdles face the correct direction, since they are designed to fall only one way.
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