Who has the worst indoor track?

There used to be a meet in Portland, OR on an old, and I mean 20+ year old, wooden 120m track. The wood was so old that you got nothing back from each step. Apparently PRE ran on the same track, and it looked and felt like it had been used in the 70's without improvement.

Back in the day it used to be Mount Union's continuous curve. You couldn't wear spikes on it and I swear the heat was never higher than 50 degrees.

Then a few years ago they put Mondo down, but I likened it to putting a silk ribbon on a pig because it's still 160 meters.

For the caliber of a team, Id say CU has by far the worst.

I second the U of Rochester indoor track, some of the races started inside the tunnel and the gun reverberated throughout the tunnel. My coach beat a guy 5 seconds faster then him in the 800 back in the day by just knowing how to race on that track.

Maine South's indoor track, Park Ridge, IL, is 12 laps to the mile, four turns and four straightaways per lap. Figured once that each straightaway is about 18.5 yards. What a piece of crap.

Does Drake still have the hill in the middle of one of the turns?

force recon wrote:

drake university has a pretty shitty indoor track. 160 meters i think and it hasn't been resurfaced since the 80's. the building smells like shit too

I remember Uconn's track in the mid 1980's being real lousy. Poorly lit and real slow surface. I dont remember it being oval , more like some indeterminate rectangular shape.

Does the University of Vermont still have an indoor track? 15 years ago this 160-meter concrete abomination in a dust-choked field house had supposedly been condemned by the NCAA, and I bet that rather than resurface it so they could host meets, the school scrapped it instead.

for as good as they usually are... UW-LaCrosse's indoor is shitty

Although it hasn't been used for meets in at least 10 years, I would have to say the College of the Holy Cross indoor track. It is a flat, 160m track made of basically linoleum. Additionally, the fieldhouse it's located in is also home to three indoor basketball courts in the center of the track (undersized courts), a long jump pit, and portable throwing circles. The three courts are seperated by mechanically operated plastic shades that lower form the rafters of the former 1940's basketball courts and kill the view of the track. The track itself is 4 lanes wide (albeit four very thin lanes) and one of the turns is perpetually covered in sand from the jump pit. It is no wonder that HC runners fill the medical trainers' offices every day.

In terms of tracks that host meets, I would go with the Lombardi Center at Fordham University. Unbanked 200m track that invites injury to its racing participants.

Manhattan College has the worse indoor track. It was great when it was installed 30 years ago but it now has holes in it and huge bubbles in everylane. The administration refuses to fix it and it's a complete embarrassment. But then again it is a indoor facility and better to have it then nothing at all.

Manhattan College has the worse indoor track. It was great when it was installed 30 years ago but it now has holes in it and huge bubbles in everylane. The administration refuses to fix it and it's a complete embarrassment. But then again it is a indoor facility and better to have it then nothing at all.

Dingle- great job mentioning Carleton's track! That is the most preposterous bank I have ever seen!

My kids would love to test the curve at the Northfield Relays-

Brutal!

Not even close boys. Went to WILLIAM & MARY a few years ago and was shown their indoor track. H-S it was the worst I ever seen. You got to push the basketball stands back to even see it. It's like 2 lanes and must be 15 laps to the mile.

Former Jasper wrote:

It was great when it was installed 30 years ago but it now has holes in it and huge bubbles in everylane.

Sounds like West Virginia Univ. Maybe with Rich Rod leaving for MI they'll have some money to fix it. It ain't called the shell building for nothing down there.

Former Jasper wrote:

Manhattan College has the worse indoor track. It was great when it was installed 30 years ago but it now has holes in it and huge bubbles in everylane. The administration refuses to fix it and it's a complete embarrassment. But then again it is a indoor facility and better to have it then nothing at all.

I ran a Columbia in the mid 80s. Our indoor track was so bad that we drove out to Manhattan College for workouts.

Navy

when I saw this post this was the exact track I was thinking about.. I mean holy $%Z*...that track sucked balls. That slippery ass floor and you couldn't wear spikes..We tried to put duck tape on the front of our shoes for some traction, It didn't work it just collected more dirt. I mean if you had to run a 400 it was horrible you were all the way over in lane three going around the turn...horrible track

goatcheese wrote:

arthur ashe center in VA

Never happen. WVU made their position with track clear when they cut the men's team. No one at the school, outside the coach and team, cares about that program. The shell building is in bad shape, but still not the worst.