But this apparently self-evident fact about a m track is actually a complicated business. On such a track, the actual distance of one lap, measured along the inside of Lane 1, is not meters; it is Why is that?
Upon reflection, it should be obvious that a runner cannot follow a path along the inside edge of the lane without repeatedly and illegally stepping on or over the line that marks the inside of the lane. Instead, to stay within the lane, the runner must move out slightly from its inner edge. If a lane has a rail or raised curb as is often the case with Lane 1 , the runner will naturally and instinctively move out a little more to avoid stepping on or right next to the barrier. Thus, track construction assumes that the optimal path in a given lane be measured along an imaginary line either 30cm So a m track is designed so that the length of the measure line in Lane 1 is exactly meters.
And what of the other lanes? Although a very few tracks have curbs in lanes other than Lane 1 Franklin Field at Penn comes to mind , for the vast majority of tracks, Lanes 2 and out have no rail, so they are all measured 20 cm out from the inside of the lane. While the length of the straights is the same for all lanes, as one moves outward from Lane 1, the radius of the curves increases and so, too, does the length of the measure line.
You might wonder why we stop at nine lanes. The reason given is that, as the radius increases, the curve becomes more and more gentle, giving a theoretical advantage to runners in the outside lanes. Like so many other track guidelines, there is something annoyingly arbitrary about limiting tracks to nine lanes.
Note: The calculations above are based on a specific track geometry, where the straights are But not all tracks have the same dimensions. This variation is understandable when we realize that tracks are constructed around fields of different shapes, or, indeed, to fit a particular site and the space available.
In the previous section, we used the IAAF standard dimensions: straights of In its technical manual, The IAAF lists three other permissible non-standard arrangements, in which the curves are constructed using multiple arcs with different radii. Each curve is constructed from three separate arcs with radii of This results in curves that are The IAAF specifications do not exhaust the possibilities for non-standard dimensions.
In theory, there are an infinite number of ways to construct a m track. In practice, there are a few other common layouts that are worth mentioning. However, while common, such a layout is considered a bit old-fashioned.
The American Sports Builders Association sums up the reasons by saying:. Occasionally, one will come across a track with straights longer than m and very tight turns. On the other hand, if a race has no turns, a longer straight is a good thing.
As a historical note, the dimensions of the original Olympic stadium stadion in Olympia, Greece, site of the ancient Olympic Games, was Races started at the East end of the stadium and finished As a further historical note, while it was not used for any races, the site of the ancient stadium in Olympia WAS used for the Shot Put competition in the Olympic Games, hosted by Athens.
The point is that long and narrow tracks exist in the wild, and whatever one thinks about doing workouts on such a track, a runner with an interest in track construction might want to enjoy, rather than disparage, their quirkiness.
There is an ancient thread on LetsRun What is the strangest track you know of that invites readers to post about unusual tracks — both indoor and outdoor.
Some of the examples — presumably solutions to problems of squeezing tracks into limited areas — are really odd, and make non-standard tracks like the equal quadrant version look like shining examples of order and rationality by comparison. Nickerson St.
It also includes a right-hand turn! The meter standard is a relatively recent phenomenon, at least in the United States. When I was growing up, most high school tracks in the United States were yards, not meters. On an imperial track, one mile was precisely four laps. Nowadays, most tracks are m, which is only On a metric track, a mile is four laps plus another 9. In my home state of Massachusetts, public high school runners still compete at the Mile and Two Mile, requiring start lines approximately 10 and 20 yards, respectively, before the common finish.
Other states contest the and 4 laps and 8 laps , or in some cases, the and 3. For some reason, private schools in New England have gone metric with the and , and still hold the m hurdles instead of the m hurdles. Go figure. Until they demolished the school, the old Newton North had a yard track. A similar situation exists indoors. Standard indoor tracks are m, but the Harvard indoor track is yards — 8 laps, exactly, to the mile.
It would be a poor spectator sport. It would be awkward in logistics moving from one end to the other end when not racing. It would not be the best use of space and would make a poor arena. By making a running track oval in shape it allows things to be placed in the middle other sporting fields, or venues for other track and field events.
An oval shape is also a fine shape to build a spectator arena around. Below is a typical oval track arrangement. Usually, at the bottom, is a m straight track used for short races sprints and hurdles. Longer races start on the oval part of the track and run part of the race on a curve.
In addition to the m straight sprint section at the bottom, there is a 17m deceleration region and a shorter setup section before the start line. There is also a finish line. The finish line is designed to be common for all races, and these constraints and the desire to place other things in the center dictate the shape of the track.
An oval track is designed to be m around using the inside lane. These tracks are made by combing end curves as a hybrid of two radii. When the race is a straight line, the start and finish lines can be at the same orthogonal distance apart.
However, an issue arises when part of the track is curved. If we did not compensate for the curve, runners on the inside track would have a distinct advantage because, with a smaller radius of curvature, the tangential distance around the track is shorter.
Running tracks can have a variable number of lanes typically from four to nine and, in accordance with IAFF requirements International Association of Athletics Federations , each lane is 1. If the race were run in a straight line, it would not matter where in the lane the runner ran.
However, since the track is curved, it is in the interests of the runner to take a more inside trajectory. The IAFF appreciates this, and in calculating their track dimensions, takes this into account. Whilst the inside track radius is Instead the runner is assumed to be running 0. This gives a running radius of You can see now how the math works out. A m oval has two straights at This is the distance for the inside track. As more tracks are added, these are wrapped around the inner track, like layers of an onion.
Each track is of width 1. This layout avoids undue disruption of events by ceremonies and counterbalances the concentration of interest in the finish area.
Track events include sprint, middle distance, hurdle and steeplechase events. The competition area for track events includes the following:. The m Standard Track the Track has straight and curved sections of almost equal length and uniform bends which are most suitable to the running rhythm of athletes. Furthermore, the area inside the track is large enough to accommodate all throwing events and also a standard football soccer pitch 68m x m.
The Track comprises 2 semicircles, each with a radius of The Track has 8, 6 or occasionally 4 lanes but the last is not used for international running competition. All lanes have a width of 1. Page 35 of the Manual Setting out the m standard Track section 2. The essential requirement for all start lines, straight, staggered or curved, is that the distance for every athlete, when taking the shortest permitted route, is the same, and not less than the stipulated distance with no negative tolerance.
The exit from the first bend is marked distinctively with a 0. To assist athletes to identify the breakline, small cones or prisms 0. Races over m are run without lanes using a curved start line. The other group runs as far as the end of the first bend on the outer half of the track. The separate arced start line is marked so that all the athletes run the same distance. A cone or other distinctive mark is placed on the inner line of the outer half of the track at the beginning of the following straight to indicate to the athletes of the outer group where they are permitted to join the athletes using the regular start line.
For the m and 10,m this point is at the intersection of the m break line and the inner line. The zones start and finish at the edges of the zone lines nearest the start line in the running direction. The arc across the track at the entry to the back straight showing the positions at which the second stage athletes are permitted to leave their respective lanes, are identical to the breakline arc for the m event.
The standard m track and the sprint track with m and m are used for hurdle races. The hurdle positions are marked on the track by lines mm x 50mm so that the distances measured from the start to the edge of the line nearest the approaching athlete are in accordance with the table below.
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