EMU Track Is Short!

Maybe the NCAA/USATF should start a rule that the track should be measured before every major competition. It wouldn't be a big deal. You walk the 400 meter in lane 1 and then you measure the staggers for the 200 and the 400. At least it would put to rest any questions people have about certain tracks around the country.

I was there for the measurements. To clearify a couple of things:

A. The track is a 200m track. In lane one, it is exactly 200m. The track, itself, is NOT short.

B. The 60m time from early in the season has nothing at all to do with this.

C. The problem with the track was the new lines for the 200m that they put down about 8-10 years ago. There is a slight bank to the track at turn one. Using the common start/finish line, you had to slightly run uphill in lanes 3-6. So, years ago, they re-lined new staggers for the 200m (moving them up about 15-meters)and adding an additional finish line at the end of the straight.

The problem is, that the finish line they put down is actually on the beginning of the turn. The finish line was painted straight across the lanes so that it was parallel to the common start/finish line, but NOT perpendicular to the actual lanes (because you are on the turn). In order for it to be exactly 200m for all six lanes, you would have to have a finish line that is perpendicular the lanes.

Lane one was exactly 200m. Then, as you went out, it became slightly less and less because the finish line was going straight but the lanes were curved. So, lane 6 was 3.25m short. Lane one was 200m. Lane two would have been likely about .75m short. Lane 3 about 1.5, etc. etc.

In order to rectify the situation, they simply went back to the old staggers that go off the common start and finish.

Kevin Hadsell

Head Coach

University of Toledo

I'm confused. Which lane do i walk in? I prefer the inside lane.

I don't want to take anything away from a phenomenal athlete that I actually saw run many times, but does this possibly explain some of Clement Chukwu's superfast indoor times. Not sure if he typically ran faster indoors at EMU over OTHER venues or not. Just curious.

DH

Does this mean every distance race that started outside of lane one before breaking was short as well, or was the specail line just for the 200m?

It shouldn't affect any distance races becasue they use the common finish and their start lines be it alleys, lanes or whatever are not the same as the 200m start lines. That silly little bank just screwed everything up.

dimwit wrote:

Does this mean every distance race that started outside of lane one before breaking was short as well, or was the specail line just for the 200m?

Re-read Kevin Hadsell's post. They have used different starting lines and a different finish line for the 200 and 400 meters. Basically, they eliminated about a half (or more) of the first turn and then extended the finish line down the straightaway past the normal finish lines. In other words, you run much less turn and a lot more straightaway. In fact the guys in lanes 5 and 6 really only run one turn in the 200 since the practically start coming off of the first turn. A very good idea to run fast on a track with such tight turns as they have at Eastern. The problem is that the starting staggers for the 200 and 400 were mis-marked. Thus, the 200 and 400 races run over the past 8-10 years have been anywhere from 1 to 3+ meters short (depending on which lane you started in). If they re-do the starting lines you can still use the current finish line and make for a 200 that runs less on the turns.

All of the distance races use the common finish and start line (i.e. start and finish in the same place).

Lane one of the track is 200m.

Lane one, regardless of where you started measuring (as long as you stopped in the same spot you started in) was 200m. Period. The track is a 200m track in lane one.

What makes Lanes 2-6 either long or short is where you are measuring from. OBVIOUSLY, as long as lane one on your track is 200m, lane 2-6 is going to be MORE THAN 200m if you meaure the lane exactly (not from stagger to finish). It is not the TRACK that is short. The TRACK at EMU is a 200m track in lane one, end of story.

What makes the 200m and 400m short, as they were running them, are the staggers and the finish lines...not the track itself.

Anyway, the problem is rectified and they only need to re-survey the staggers and they can go back to running farther up on the turn.

u gys sera nigersars