What is the strangest track that you have run on?

Will do JEH.

The indoor/outdoor track at the Chenggong sports complex near Kunming China.

You can see photos of this track on my website,

www.jasonmayeroff.com

The entire track (fine black cinder) is surrounded by a wall with a large overhang that keeps rain and wind completely off the track, kind of like the stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play, where the grandstand is completely covered from rain.

They've added a new Mondo track next to this OLD cinder track, but the cinder track is a lot more fun to train on.

Ran there once. Man it sucked!

got to say the strangest track I'v run on is at Brunel University, it is pear shaped in that it has a 150m bend at one end and a 50m bend at the other, nightmare on your ankles!!

Goddamn I don't think that anyone can top that track in Taiwan.

The indoor at SD State is square. The outdoor there is normal except that the setup of the spruce trees around the track creates a 400 meter tail wind when the wind is blowing strong out of the northwest (as it usually does in SD). Seen some fast times run when the wind was blowing at 50 mph. No meets there anymore as the surface of the thing has gone to shit but they still workout on it.

Also, the track at Hot Springs, SD used to be a dirt 440 rectangle. I think they've replaced it with an oval as of late, however.

I ran some indoor meets at Suffield High School in CT - except there was no track, the races were run around the halls...the cool part was taking a sharp right and getting slamed into some lockers....breaking 5 minutes for the mile was a fair accomplishment....

hey somechik, that villanova track (the wooden banked one) was actually the college's indoor track for many years. the interesting thing about that famed 200m wooden gem was that it was located behind the football stadium, outdoors. so if it snowed, the team had to shovel the "indoor" track. very interesting, i heard jumbo would either sit in his car, or this little booth to watch the workouts. very interesting, and surreal i'm sure.

(much better than our 201m indoor track which is partially covered by the basketball court (and is build directly on concrete).

Chiba Japan is by far the strangest track.It has trees in the infield and is used for running only ( no field events )

It is like running in a park on a all weather surface.

eddy

ok, first of all. princeton's track is really fu@#ing nice, but buddy did you ever run there in the summer, when it was 95 degrees. there's no tree cover or shade at all, and the metal grandstand attracts a ton of heat too, there's no break from the sun or the deadly heat. therefore the track is not that great.

now for the weirdest track i've been on. mamaroneck high school, in westchester new york. the friggin' track is set around a baseball field, so that the track is a square, the corners are practically 90 degree turn. plus the track has two sides of 50 meters, and two sides 150 meters, so you have no idea where to start your kick. every year i get messed up about when to start kicking for my mile. see ya this year at the relays boys, less than3 weeks to go.

p.s. the tigers suck themost at the invitational,always. why do you guys still compete?

Eddy wrote:

Chiba Japan is by far the strangest track.It has trees in the infield and is used for running only ( no field events )

It is like running in a park on a all weather surface.

eddy

That sounds soooo cool. I'm putting Chiba Japan on my list of places I most visit before I die.

Has anyone run on UNC's old indoor track I heard that think was 160m around?

At Shippensburg when I got there in 1970, the track was dirt and square with an extended straightaway for the sprints and 180 low hurdles. Distance races started on that straightaway and finished at the top of the homestretch.

I also recall running on a gravel track in high school in Johnstown, Pa.

huh wrote:

http://cgpr.ce.vt.edu/photo_album_for_geotech/Earthquake%20hazards/Rupture%20-%20Taiwan/Rupture%20Taiwan%20P3.html

Ran there once. Man it sucked!

how do you run on that track?

HRE, your mention of dirt reminds that UChicago indoors used to be dirt (raced there once 'back in the day' and met Ted Haydon, RIP). Also, anybody race on any crushed brick tracks?

The old indoor track at the Univ. of Nebraska was under the football stadium. It had no straight, had a dirt surface, was in the shape of a peanut, partially ran under the stands, had a retaining wall holding up one curve that the shot putters threw against, and the outside line of the home stretch was a wall. The sprinters ran in the sunken center of the track. Running there once was enough.

I did my degree at Brunel - though it was West London Institute of Higher Education back then. Ran on the track many times - it was pretty weird but in a lovely setting. The view of Lancaster House from the track is great.

http://www.runtrackdir.com/details.asp?track=isleworth

Another odd one I trained on a few times is at Mitcham, Surrey. A 330yard cinder track that's been left to rot. Back in the 40s and 50s they used to hold quite big meetings there. I think the ground record for 5000m is held by Gordon Pirie - 13:45 or something. It's in the middle of a park now, and I lived near there for around 6months. I used to jog over on a Saturday morning and do 12laps hard wth a lap jog - felt great to do 50 sec laps.

http://www.runtrackdir.com/details.asp?track=mitcham

If anyone's interested, info about every track in the UK can be found at

www.runtrackdir.com

- includes details of existing and disused tracks.

The weirdest place was San Diego State..on top of the parking garage..Thought they were joking....not a bad track though...Lajolla high school has a unreal track..their facility looks like a college...they have a Nike turf football/soccer field...all within walking distance to the famous Windsea surf spot...world famous waves

Hart High School, Hart, Michigan. Before they had the complex behind the high school, they used the complex located at the City Park. (Everything was played there, to include baseball, football and softball). Cinder track that was actually groomed very well by the school custodian, but the home stretch inclined by 1 foot from start to finish. (I don't know where it went downhill at though, maybe on the curve) The funniest thing I remember was when I was a soph, one of the Freshmen, who was a pretty good sprinter, was so excited about running his first high school meet that he tied the school record running uphill, didn't better it until he was a junior!!

I recall the track at UCSD in San Diego used to have a slight dip comming off the first curve, I remember catching air a couple times running 5ks and 10ks on the track.