Not my experience at all. I remember watching my older siblings compete in track in the 1970s. All of the tracks were in yards but the distances were in meters.
I went to prep-school, so very different, but we only ran 1500 for both boys and girls dating back to the 70s. No clue why. Didn't run a single 1,600 until I went to college.
for the same reason women run 6k in ncaa xc and men run 10k. running long distances like the men can affect women's ability to bare children later in life. women in the olympics were only able to race up to 800 meters until 1972. this helped trash women's self esteem and kept them "in line" with their man.
for the same reason women run 6k in ncaa xc and men run 10k. running long distances like the men can affect women's ability to bare children later in life. women in the olympics were only able to race up to 800 meters until 1972. this helped trash women's self esteem and kept them "in line" with their man.
Woke trash talk, but you're a heretic since you've left out the latest required dogmatic theology; since we now know that everything you said is meaningless, since anyone can be a woman, and the best woman is always a man.
Just curious if anyone knows. Kinda weird if you ask me.
Was so their ovaries don't fall out in those last 100 m. But now, since they is one person that doesn't have ovaries (yet), it's so they can feel better about their time.
I hope NFHS does something. There isn't even that much attachment to the 1600 and 3200 anyway, the only events that get any sort of real prestige at the HS level are the mile and 2 mile for historical reasons. Even most stats websites and compilers don't even track 1600 and 3200 all-time lists, it's all converted.
1500 and 3000 is the way forward!
I would really prefer full mile/2 mile, but would settle for 1500/3000. Anything but 1600/3200.
Do you know how many millions or even billions of dollars schools would have to spend to remodel there tracks to go away from the metric system?
Tracks are 400 meters because they used to be 1/4 mile. I love the 1500. A 100 meter straight start is great.
Tracks have been 400m since before I was running (I started in the '70s). How ever long ago the modern Olympics came into exstence is probably how long that's been the standard size. John Parker mentions a 440y, which is to say, 1/4 mile, track at Florida during his time there. Maybe some of you are also aware of a track somewhere, sometime, being that size.
But I can assure you that by the late '70s, every track I was aware of or had access to that would have been official enough to count for records was 400m. The synthetic tracks at the local colleges absolutely fit into this category. Whatever USATF was called then held Nationals at one of them. The 10k was exactly 25 laps. I remember a low-key collegiate 4×800 at another school I watched as a teenager.
Any track that was synthetic with permanently marked lines seemed to be standard (as far as I can recall) although I don't necessarily doubt Parker's recollection from an earlier era. It is clear reading Kenny Moore et. al. from the same period that 5000s and various standard events were held at Hayward including Pre's last race. So I would be willing to bet some amount that the Oregon track was just like the Bislett track and most others - 400m.
So what? you ask. Everyone knows this. Well, by the time I was in high school, this was well established and had been for about a century. Yet, the 1600 and 3200 didn't exist yet. I graduated long before (proabably more than a decade) anyone had ever heard of either one. These new race distances weren't added to meet schedules the day tracks became 400m. It was a hundred years later.
One track in our conference was 440y, I won conference titles in the 1600m there in 1988 and 1989. The finish line was 9m behind the start line and they would always screw the splits up by moving directly to the finish line for the first split.
I also ran the 800m there several times and still don't know if I ran 800m or 880y.
There are states where this is the case- NY for one.
Here's what I was told when we went metric, two years after I got out of high school:
At that time there were two associations governing high school track. The girls' had the 1500 and 3000. The boys had the 1600 and 3200. For some odd reason they never changed it.
I'm speaking out of my ass here but I'd like to think tracks were made for the actually important events. That being the 100m, 200m 400m dash, as well as 4x100 and 4x400m relays. Honestly, relays in general are a great reason for the 400m track.
Distance events fit in as an afterthought because it's easy to do any distance. Just paint a line somewhere for the start and have everyone walk to it.
Just curious if anyone knows. Kinda weird if you ask me.
I don't know the history of why but I do also take every single opportunity to hate on the 1500m to begin with lol. Why aren't all of the tracks 500m. Why don't we run the 750m instead of the 800m
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