middle distance running is not running which is very far and it is not running that is very short that is why it is called middle distance

The Middle Distance - 2014 was released on:

USA: 2014

the distance across the middle is the radius and whole distance across it is the diameter

I consider an 800 middle distance and the mile distance. Some however would argue that the mile is middle distance so it depends on what you want to call it but they are definitly not sprinting.

Miklós Szabó - middle distance runner - died in 2000.