Let’s assume that someone goes out there and measures the Hunt course with a tape and it comes out close to 5k. That’s when the fun really begins because we will only have half the information we need to determine who has “the record”.
Someone needs to recreate and measure the Ritz course in Michigan with a tape. The good news is that I’m close enough to help with that, but I know nothing about the course. Do they still run on that course? Who here is confident that they can recreate it to the accuracy we need to compare times? That race almost certainly was recorded, and that will help.
We need to record elevation changes for both courses as well but that can be done with topographic maps of the areas.