The 1500m IS SO STUPID

The 1600 is the single most stupidest and meaningless event there is. 1500m or the mile. But the 1600 is just f-ing stupid.

I love the 1500m. The 1500m makes as much sense as any other distance except for possibly the marathon. They really hit the sweet spot at 42.195km. It seems a little random, but it makes much more sense when you convert it to miles at 26 miles 385 yards.

Starting on the straight is a lot more fun than starting on a curve. Who knows what Pierre Deleze may have done in Cram's mile world record race if he hadn't fallen in the first few strides? He outkicked Coe in Zurich that year over 1500m. I bet he prefers 1500m.

Of course, as someone who grew up running 1500s all the time, I am probably a little bit biased. I am sad to have missed out on the good old days that my father got to enjoy when they went 100 yards and then moved up to 220 yards, 440yards, 880 yards, 1760 yards (mile), 5280 yards (3mile), 10560 yards (6 mile). I'm sure we could sell this system to the rest of the world just by invoking its name. People worldwide are generally filled with nostalgia when reminded of the glory of imperialism.

Imperial units dont make sense. MM/DD/YYYY instead of DD/MM/YYYY doesnt make sense.

1500m makes sense.

Tracks used to be 500m back in the day. They ran 500m, 1000m 1500m 3000m 5000m and 10,000m. Stupid Americans had to come along and screw that all up

No.

Or sometimes longer than 400m when the pit is on the outside, for instance at University of Texas, where they also have 9 lanes so its MUCH longer.

There is a reason that ISO international standard for date is YYYY/MM/DD. DD/MM makes far less sense than MM/DD....if you want to archive something by date, you don't start smallest, you start largest. I think the US should move the year to the front, and be ISO standard.

About 100 years ago, many tracks in continental Europe were 500m. 3 laps = 1500m. It was the longest track event in the 1896 Olympics.
According to Nelson & Quercetani's history of the 1500m/mile, the 1500 was established as a standard distance in Europe in the late 19th Century. The French Championships included a 1500m in 1888.
Running tracks were not standardized at 400m/440y until at least the late 1920s.

actually you're wrong, the 1500 is the dumbest event. unfortunately for you that was your last strike on this board, sorry.

Simple solution would be to switch from 400m tracks to 100m tracks or even 1000m tracks.

Things "make sense" when we give them meaning. People in America measure distances in miles. Our lives are measured miles, not 1600s, furlongs, or kilometers or anything else.

It is a quirk of history, just like any cultural artifact. But to say something is "meaningful" or "meaningless" is just a question of our particular cultural backstory.

Soccer is meaningful to most cultures, but not to people in my community. Sumo wrestling is meaningful to some cultural groups, but not mine. The mile means something (to us) and the 1500 doesn't. That is okay.

p.s. I would like to see all American races (HS, NCAA, US Nationals) race the mile. If you race internationally, dropping down to 1500 isn't going to kill you.

The 3,000 steeplechase is exactly 2x the 1500. So it relates (in terms of distance increments) to one other event.

There are essentially 2 variations. One has the water on the inside and the other on the outside. One has laps less than 400 while the other has laps greater than 400.

Some tracks were 500. But just as many were odd distances.

all of the distances are logical in their own way.

a mile is a mile. a distance that is meaningful to AMericans and Brits.

1600 makes sense because it is 4 full laps.

1500 makes sense because it is 1.5 kilometers. most people have a pretty good understanding of full and half measurements.

110 hurdles.

Lol even worse is having to hear American T&F announcers (esp Dwight Stones) refer to the 1500m as the “metric mile” which, while I understand the intention, makes absolutely zero sense.

It is a needed comment because 0% of non-track athletes know what a 1500 is. If you just walk up to 1000 people in a shopping mall and ask them how many meters are in a mile, they would have no chance of guessing it. So when regular people are watching track, good announcers try to provide context.

Of course, this would not be a problem in the first place if we just raced the mile here in the States.