Cause road races are "fun".
Cause road races are "fun".
I think the majority of participants in road races - "hobby joggers" consider track & field as a separate sport! Sure, some may explore a mile or longer on a track but it just does not have the same appeal as a road race.
For the average road runner, the mere thought of running on a track is painful. They view a track as the place where you go to run fast, to test your limits, and to do so is painful. Even spikes look painful to most people (tight fitting, no cushioning, sharp metal elements that can draw blood). Running on a track is viewed as being all about finishing place or time and the stopwatch is a merciless competitor that is never influenced by weather, age, injury, etc. In a track race, the only person that is viewed as a success is the winner, while all the others suffer in the pain of defeat. Some of those others are very infrequently rewarded a little with the satisfaction of a personal best, but pbs become increasingly elusive if not impossible as one ages.
Yes to this. I pick races based on scenery or social outings. Running on a track is for speed work and anything more than twice around is a real slog.
I don’t think I’m a terrible runner (1:11 HM, 2:29 Marathon), but I’ve never run a track race. It’s like a different sport/culture. I’d have no idea what the hell I was doing etiquette-wise and have no real desire to get involved since I enjoy road racing. I think it’s just a result of coming into the sport in my mid-20s rather than the HS track background a lot of people here seem to have.
Kvothe wrote:
at a road race, competitors have a reasonable expectation of when they're going to start and don't have to wait for other events to finish.
Ho Hum wrote:
Track just isn't really attractive to a newcomer, and even having run track for years I'd usually rather just do a road race. Show up an hour ahead of time, the race starts when it says it will, go home. No sitting around for 4 hours, hoping you get in a good heat, worrying about warming up without missing the race.
Star wrote:
Road races are bigger and simpler.
Everyone signs up for the save event and they all start at the sane time.
They run a course and finish.
Track meets take forever.
You have to follow the events to determine when your event is.
There are fewer people running.
Some track meets have the 1600 (or even the 3200 on a few rare occasions) as the first event, so the distance guys should all have a clear idea of when their race starts. But I rarely see any hobby joggers at those meets, and the slowest guy in the 1600 is usually in the low 6 minute range.
Other than living in Covidia, there are maybe a few track meets and mostly relegated to masters running.
Like in the vid posted its very fast paced organizing not a lot of time between races and it's packed there for a few dozen people. Try with 100s.
Running 5ks around me you'd need to be in the mid 14s if you want to win. 17 might get you the odd charity race but there are at least 10 races a year where. you need at least a mid 14 to win, with a couple being mid 13s.
98% of us posting here, we are all just a bunch of hobby joggers, quit taking yourself so seriously.
Les wrote:
Unless you ran track when you were younger, I think most people take up running on the roads and that's where they're comfortable. Roadrunning is also kind of a group social activity. That's not true of track running. I remember a roadrunner tell me he was uncomfortable running a race on a track because "everyone would be looking" at him.
A lot of people simply have not run track... it’s something they don’t understand. Running in circles on a rubber surface? Stiff slippers with spikes on them? Yiiiikes! The track is a racetrack. You usually don’t show up without preparation, because it shows. You can’t hide from the stopwatch (or timing system). Everyone who cared to spectate will see you. As others have said, road races are more accessible, and are not taken as seriously, as least by hobby joggers.
As popular as track & field is in the US, it’s surprising that there are so few open meets. There are plenty of open meets in Germany and Switzerland, while France has them too but requires a stupid focking medical certificate for any race or to be a registered member of a running club/french athletics federation. In any case, I can find several track races on any given weekend within a 2-3 hour drive of my region (SW Germany). The meets can be a drag, but at the end of the night everyone is there to run, and run fast.
Hard to get 20,000 people on a track.
I can think of two reasons off the top of my head:
1. running a 10,000m, even a 5,000m on the track is boring as heck.
2. It is much more likely for the average runner to finish dead last in a track race, due to the much smaller fields
Running is a popular recreational activity.
It is not a popular sport.
Road Races give hundreds or thousands of recreational runners a reason to show up, socialize and maybe try to beat their PR.
Maybe 10-100 in any given Road Race are really serious.
You are not going on have a track meet that can support these kinds of recreational numbers. You might get those 10-100 serious guys but you will never get those hundreds or thousands of recreational runners.
There simply is no demand.
Alan
Runningart2004 wrote:
Running is a popular recreational activity.
It is not a popular sport.
Road Races give hundreds or thousands of recreational runners a reason to show up, socialize and maybe try to beat their PR.
Maybe 10-100 in any given Road Race are really serious.
You are not going on have a track meet that can support these kinds of recreational numbers. You might get those 10-100 serious guys but you will never get those hundreds or thousands of recreational runners.
There simply is no demand.
Alan
Track & Field is the most popular sport for HS girls and the second most popular sport for HS boys (football is #1). That seems like a lot of demand to me!
https://www.ncsasports.org/articles-1/high-school-sportsGettingFasterDude wrote:
mystery wrote:
I looked up some results from the local road race (pre 2020), and the median men's time was around 27 minutes for guys under 40.
I then looked up results from the local all comers track meet (no pre-registration, no time standards, and a much cheaper entrance fee). The median men's 3200 time was in the low 12s, which is equivalent to a sub 20 5K.
So why are hobby joggers drawn to road races and not track races? Is it only because they want some race swag? I've seen all-comers meets hand out ribbons with runner's times on them and had T-shirts available for purchase, and it's still rare to see anything slower than a 6:00 mile at those meets.
Road races are... open, encouraging, welcoming and accessible.
Track races are... intimidating (to some)
I may be the odd one out, but I always felt more at home on a track than on the roads. If I'm having a bad day at the track (i.e., injuries, thunder / hailstorms, and so on), it's a short walk back to my car. If I'm having a bad day on the roads, it can be many miles back to my car.
The track has a smooth, forgiving surface, especially if you do your tempo runs on the infield during the straightaways. The roads have banked surfaces, and you'll have to dodge traffic, potholes, and the occasional unleashed dog (and sometimes hecklers as well).
During races, I don't like weaving in and out of crowds, it just slows me down and throws me off my rhythm. I'd rather pass a few people on a track 5K than a few dozen people on a road 5K.
I'll happily admit that I'm a hobby jogger who just loves the track. At some of the collegiate meets I've run in, it's not too hard to suspend your disbelief and pretend that you're in the Olympics even if your 1500 time is much closer to 4:44 than to 3:33. And if you can hang with the pack and pass a few guys on your finishing kick (which I can usually pull off despite having never gone under 56 in an open 400), it feels f***ing awesome! The same isn't true for the vast majority of road races; they feel more like fundraising carnivals.
ovals wrote:
Runningart2004 wrote:
Running is a popular recreational activity.
It is not a popular sport.
Road Races give hundreds or thousands of recreational runners a reason to show up, socialize and maybe try to beat their PR.
Maybe 10-100 in any given Road Race are really serious.
You are not going on have a track meet that can support these kinds of recreational numbers. You might get those 10-100 serious guys but you will never get those hundreds or thousands of recreational runners.
There simply is no demand.
Alan
Track & Field is the most popular sport for HS girls and the second most popular sport for HS boys (football is #1). That seems like a lot of demand to me!
https://www.ncsasports.org/articles-1/high-school-sports
1. High School: Hahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!
2. For the vast majority of HS Track athletes it's just something they do to prepare themselves for their "real sport" like Football or Basketball or its a way for the unathletic to get a varsity letter.
Alan
princetonac wrote:
Facility managers jealously guard their facilities. Even showing up with a nice fat liability policy, they won't budge. Heck, they are paid to keep the facility nice, and the easiest way to do that is not let anyone use it unless forced.
If you can get past that gate, the facility is probably not available because it is booked by youth soccer or lacrosse.
If you can get past that gate, facility fees range to the stratosphere. Youth soccer, to an extent, can get twice as many people on the field by cutting the field to a smaller size. Does not work for games, but practice sessions can work that way.
Throwers and jumpers are rare -- and they are subsidized by the other events.
The thinking among most runners is, if a 5K costs $25 (say), that 100m race should be less than a dollar. The reality is, the part of the course in the middle is all fixed costs (law enforcement officers on a road course, or close to nothing on a trail). It's the start and finish that cost.
Princetonac said much of what I would say except I would add there is reciprocal relationship between these factors and the unfamiliarity with track meets that most adult runners have beyond some terrible middle school memory they had a their school meet.
I don't know if this is exclusively a North American phenomena but, we tend to view certain sports as pursuits that only young (high school to undergrad) people can take up. So, the idea of entering a track race as an adult with a job who isn't a semi-pro is a weird thought. Not to mention that those opportunities are exceedingly rare in comparison to road races.
I also think running races are more focused on participation and charities than they are competition and performance. Nothing wrong with getting more people out but, the atmosphere is seemingly hostile towards racing because it feels too elitist in a lot of runs. A track race by its very nature is a race and for people who are used to doing road runs which do not emphasize competition the thought of purely racing is almost a foreign concept.
Blend in these social norms with the factors quoted above and you get virtually no opportunities to spike up and race as an adult.
With your time (which is well in range of typical hobby joggers), I don’t think HS track is for you.
Rob 491 wrote:
I don’t think I’m a terrible runner (1:11 HM, 2:29 Marathon), but I’ve never run a track race. It’s like a different sport/culture. I’d have no idea what the hell I was doing etiquette-wise and have no real desire to get involved since I enjoy road racing. I think it’s just a result of coming into the sport in my mid-20s rather than the HS track background a lot of people here seem to have.
I’m confused. Are you implying that the one who ran 1600 in the low six was not a hobby jogger?
ovals wrote:
Some track meets have the 1600 (or even the 3200 on a few rare occasions) as the first event, so the distance guys should all have a clear idea of when their race starts. But I rarely see any hobby joggers at those meets, and the slowest guy in the 1600 is usually in the low 6 minute range.
Cuz it's embarrassing to be seen walking in an 800 meter race.
Jeremy R wrote:
Idk where you are, but we don't have track meets...
+1
Only track meets around here are for HS and colleges.