Why do we say "mile" when you mean 1600?

soothsayer: wrote:

every state runs 1600

This is false, Massachusetts runs the full mile at all state level competitions. I can't necessarily speak for meets lower than the state level, but the conference I competed in and all of the invitationals I went to when I was in high school in MA ran the mile.

Some states also run the 1500 if I am not mistaken.

Memphian wrote:

Because this is America and we don't like sayin' no dern meters. Now, if you want to call it the 1760, that's a horse of a different color.

Wrong! 1749.781y is the distance most high schoolers run.

tuberculosis wrote:

Bob Schul Country wrote:

Why do we say "tempo" when we mean lactate threshold?

Why do we say "interval" when we mean repeat?

Why do we say "race pace" when we mean VO2?

these seem ok

elaborate

the word tempo is the most worthless term in running. It means nothing until you apply a pace or physiological state to it. I will quote the famous Bob Schul "can you tell me what the hell tempo means?"

Bjørn Dæhlie wrote:

"Mile" has less syllables than "sixteen hundred".

We can run 100 mpw or whatever, but we are so lazy that we can't say one more syllable to be accurate?

I don't buy it.

Yet another massh-le wrote:

soothsayer: wrote:

every state runs 1600

This is false, Massachusetts runs the full mile at all state level competitions. I can't necessarily speak for meets lower than the state level, but the conference I competed in and all of the invitationals I went to when I was in high school in MA ran the mile.

Some states also run the 1500 if I am not mistaken.

OK, but this is irrelevant.

Nah Brah - The best state in the union, the most patriotic state in the union, the state that invented America, the state that battled for America - MASSACHUSETTS runs the Mile - OG right here.

soothsayer: wrote:

every state runs 1600

I have measured out marks for when I do road intervals. I don't use meters at all except for my 1K and 2K marks. Everything else is measured 220, 440, 880, 1320, mile.

just thought you should know wrote:

I don't think you are going to like this, but sometimes I call 400s "quarters". Not when talking about races, but still. I hope you aren't too mad.

I usually call it The Quarter too along with say The Mile Relay..

I do try to use the correct wording when talking results

All my PRs are in yards.

Full miler wrote:

Because a "mile" means 1600m.

If we meant 1609.34m, we would say a "full mile."

We now have filled and unfilled miles?

OK from now on unfull mile it is

Full miler wrote:

Because a "mile" means 1600m.

If we meant 1609.34m, we would say a "full mile."

This is the best answer yet, but it is still sidestepping the issue.

"Mile" means 1600 because it is such a common misuse of the word.

The question really is why do we so commonly misuse the word mile?

This forces us to use the ridiculous phrase "full mile" when we mean mile.

Clise enough

Sara Palin wrote:

Or a 1.5K, but definitely not a 1600.

I concede us old purest have lost the battle of Meters on the track and K on the road as the way to differentiate results of races 5,000m and up. . . . but 1.5K that's a line in the sand I will not cross.

Who Cares? wrote:

Clise enough

Thanks, I'm now a sub 4 miler. I ran a 4:50 mile this morning, close enough. Who cares?

imperial empire wrote:

HS does not run the mile

Ran lots of miles of in HS, many of the tracks we competed on indoors were 176 yds.

Why get hung up on the mile or 1600, when the event that matters is the 1500?

Wrong Information wrote:

imperial empire wrote:

HS does not run the mile

Ran lots of miles of in HS, many of the tracks we competed on indoors were 176 yds.

When?

I'm talking about outdoors for the vast majority of US high schools.

pr100 wrote:

Why get hung up on the mile or 1600, when the event that matters is the 1500?

This is true at the professional level. It is irrelevant here. The topic obviously concerns the event at the majority of US High Schools' outdoor meets and even splits in other races.

Well you know the old saying: Give them 2.54 centimeters, and they want to take 1609.344 meters!

No real good explanations here yet. Still waiting for a better philosophical, cultural, or linguistic theory for this common misusage.