LMAO the stanford track is notoriously awful. Obviously they don't have an indoor facility either.
WTF are you talking about? Stanford has a great outdoor facility. Great weather and a pretty part of campus doesn't hurt either. I guess all the fans and athletes at the Prefontaine Classic a few years back (when Hayward was being redone) not to mention years and years of world class Payton Jordan Invites missed the memo from "newaccountsinceyourwebsitesucks" that the track is notoriously awful. SMH
- One set of s*tty bleachers
- No call room/formal warmup area
- Field facilities are sparse at best
- No weight facilities directly connected to the track
- No nearby hotels, certainly none at decent prices
Face it, Payton Jordan is held there because of tradition. If it weren't for nostalgia no one would even go, and if Chris Solinsky didn't break 27 there no one would care. Maybe go walk around before you run your mouth. There are high schools in the area with nicer facilities.
Oregon definitely has the best outdoor track, but North Dakota has the best indoor 300m track
North Dakota‘s indoor 300m is probably my least favorite indoor 300 that I’ve run on. It’s so narrow. It feels like a 200m track with longer straight always. (and without the small track conversion)
I always preferred South Dakota State’s indoor 300m for the same reason. It has a 400 meter track’s turn radius, just with shorter straightaways.
Vanderbilt has a great 300m indoor track that's wide and has huge glass windows at both ends to let in natural light. I trained there for several years, but they closed the track/rec center for Covid and never reopened it to community membership. I even looked into getting access by working as a rec center employee, but they don't have access to the track either. I think it's only used for varsity sports and some high school meets now.
The bottom line is that many schools have banked tracks or 300 meter tracks and outdoor tracks are similar. So I woukd say that there are dozens of schools that are in the top tier.
Oregon definitely has the best outdoor track, but North Dakota has the best indoor 300m track
North Dakota‘s indoor 300m is probably my least favorite indoor 300 that I’ve run on. It’s so narrow. It feels like a 200m track with longer straight always. (and without the small track conversion)
I always preferred South Dakota State’s indoor 300m for the same reason. It has a 400 meter track’s turn radius, just with shorter straightaways.
If that literally true it would look really wonky. That's cutting the length of the straight in half. I gotta go try to find pics of it.
I know it is kinda lame to say Oregon, but I went to high school in OR so my state meet was at old Hayward.
On the start line, the race official would preface all the usual pre-race instructions by saying "Gentleman, welcome to Hayward field, the best day of your life..."
Nope, some places are considerable beter than others, facility wise.
I think Arkansas isn't mentioned enough. Stadium outdour, football style practise facility and lockerroom, 200m super faster indoor track, training room around the indoor track and a permanent xc course.
No. I have seen most of them. As an athlete, a nice 200 meter banked track or 300 meter track is pretty similar and outdoor tracks don't differ enough to worry about.
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