USAnians Still Backwards wrote:
Add that if you like, but they're no more ridiculous than the mile and 2 mile distances in this day and age.
The mile makes sense--it's a full unit of measure used by more countries than the United States, and it is still raced by many at international meets--people still care about racing the mile even if they don't car about "mileage."
The two mile doesn't make as much sense since the 3000m SC is a popular event and the 3000m race is pretty much an ugly stepsister to the 5000m in international competition much of the time. Exceptions: Komen's 3k and the random attempts for a sub 8 two-mile clocking.
1600 meters makes total sense if we ran races like 400, 800, 1600...and 6400 (almost 2.5 mi) or 10,000--the only distance race cleanly divisible by 400m. 400 meter increments make sense if you carry them all the way through.
The 1500m and 3000m races make most sense on 500m tracks which are not used today. If you like the 1500m, then why an 800m race? Why not go 500m, 1000m, 1500m, and 3000m? No matter how you shake it up, it's all very arbitrary.