There are 40320 different ways of the runners finishing.
Since there are 8 runners, and the order in which they finish matters. This is a permutation question.
So, there are 8 person for the first position, 7 persons for the second position, 6 persons for the third position, 5 persons for the fourth position, 4 persons for the fifth position, 3 persons for the sixth position, 2 persons for the seventh position and 1 person for the last position.
So, in all there are 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 8! ways of finishing.
8! = 40320 ways.
So, there are 40320 different ways of the runners finishing.
Learn more about permutations here:
https://brainly.com/question/4199259