Most public facilities at schools and universities that do allow facility access do require insurance. The cheapest source of this insurance is USATF, Club membership includes over 1 million dollars in liability insurance. Membership is about $85 a year.
I'm shocked that anyone is allowed to use the indoor or outdoor tracks at all. Just about every university I've ever lived near has only allowed access to athletes.
For registration fees, yeah, that's how a track program raises funds. Is $50 per event steep? Yeah, probably. But it supports the program
Track is already a subsidized sport dude. It’s a public track. Ticket sales ain’t doin nothin. You close the football field and the b ball court and that’s it. Tennis courts are also fair game.
I'm shocked that anyone is allowed to use the indoor or outdoor tracks at all. Just about every university I've ever lived near has only allowed access to athletes.
For registration fees, yeah, that's how a track program raises funds. Is $50 per event steep? Yeah, probably. But it supports the program
Track is already a subsidized sport dude. It’s a public track. Ticket sales ain’t doin nothin. You close the football field and the b ball court and that’s it. Tennis courts are also fair game.
Just because it's a public school doesn't mean it's open to the general public. It has support from the state, but schools still need to make money to support themselves for staff/maintenance/upgrades. Some facilities are built by fundraising/donations. Gotta protect equipment, protect students from general public that could steal, harass, or assault students at the school.
If you think public schools are open to the public maybe you should go live in one of the dorms, or just go hang out in one and see how it turns out.
All university facilities are off limits to non-students. It's like that even at HS tracks by me. They're all fenced off.
Think it through wrote:
Also... anyone ever tried to walk in and use a university laboratory or other expensive facility when not a student or employee? Yeah, good luck getting away with that.
I can walk in my local university and use the library. I think that's true of almost all public universities. . . people go to the libraries to do research on things the city libraries might not keep around. I can even check out books using my city library card. When the pipes in my house were being repaired, I asked and was allowed to use the locker room showers too (I went in the evening when no one was there).
All the middle school and high schools in my city also allow use, even the ones with fences.
Track is already a subsidized sport dude. It’s a public track. Ticket sales ain’t doin nothin. You close the football field and the b ball court and that’s it. Tennis courts are also fair game.
Just because it's a public school doesn't mean it's open to the general public. It has support from the state, but schools still need to make money to support themselves for staff/maintenance/upgrades. Some facilities are built by fundraising/donations. Gotta protect equipment, protect students from general public that could steal, harass, or assault students at the school.
If you think public schools are open to the public maybe you should go live in one of the dorms, or just go hang out in one and see how it turns out.
Or go sit in a class without paying tuition.
You know, the liberals who think that tracks should be open to the public also believe that J6 protesters were "tresspassing" when they entered the people's house.
That's called auditing a course, and you can in fact do that for a smaller fee than tuition or even free in some universities.
Some colleges allow seniors to audit classes for free, including Clemson University in South Carolina, Georgia Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers in New Jersey, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In fact, older adults can take courses tuition-free (or for reduced cost) in all 50 states.
Honestly, kind of surprised someone hasn't level out some dirt and made a 200m, 300m, or 400m dirt track out there that's for all to use. There is a ton of land, and it's a running town. I've seen these in place like Melbourne, aus, and randomly in NJ farmlands also.
No one seriously argues that a college track should be open to outsiders during team practice. Leaving it otherwise open builds a running community that helps to sustain the college track team as well in the long-term, from developing running in the area.
No it doesn’t. What it does is enable the older crowd with that false sense of entitlement to feel like lane 1 is their private space for a power walk and don’t dare get within 10 feet of them.
Don't forget the baby strollers or the crossfitters doing lunges and burpees three abreast in lanes 1 and 2.
What's it like in Colorado? Can people training there use the college tracks? Or are there more available? I'm curious how it compares to other places.
Where I live, the state university has an indoor and outdoor track. Access to the outdoor track is usually pretty easy, the gates are usually unlocked and open. Some times there will be periods where they crack down on access and require you to contact the athletic department in advance. I have friends who have been kicked off even though there wasn't a team workout or race going on, but it doesn't happen very often. The indoor track is tougher to get access to. To get into that part of the building you either need school ID or you need to be really clever about the route you take through the rest of the building. Some local groups have gotten formal access for winter workouts, I'm not sure about cost.
Another local college has an indoor "jogging" track. I say "jogging" because it's elevated above the rec courts and isn't an oval but it has notched turns so you can still run a decent pace. 8 laps to the mile, not bad. Front desk security is pretty much non-existent, as long as you walk in like you know what you're doing and don't linger around the check in desk they almost never ask for ID.
I competed in college and still enter college meets unattached. The $50 doesn't truly bother me... In all honesty, it is about the same price (if not cheaper) than a lot of local road 5k or 10k and the competition is A LOT BETTER than the local 5k where I would need to dodge stroller moms.
Plus, I know its going back to the college TF program - which I love supporting.
No it doesn’t. What it does is enable the older crowd with that false sense of entitlement to feel like lane 1 is their private space for a power walk and don’t dare get within 10 feet of them.
Don't forget the baby strollers or the crossfitters doing lunges and burpees three abreast in lanes 1 and 2.
maybe it's where I live but anytime I go to a public track it's used for everything but running.There could be a whole infield and they're still in lanes 1-4 standing, staring, walking pets, riding bikes, kicking soccer balls...it's pointless. And I move out to the outer lanes they make their way out there...bizarre really.
Just because it's a public school doesn't mean it's open to the general public. It has support from the state, but schools still need to make money to support themselves for staff/maintenance/upgrades. Some facilities are built by fundraising/donations. Gotta protect equipment, protect students from general public that could steal, harass, or assault students at the school.
If you think public schools are open to the public maybe you should go live in one of the dorms, or just go hang out in one and see how it turns out.
Or go sit in a class without paying tuition.
You know, the liberals who think that tracks should be open to the public also believe that J6 protesters were "tresspassing" when they entered the people's house.
Uh, the fact that members of the public have treated public university tracks the way the J6 tourists treated the US Capitol building.... is one of the reasons that public university tracks are now closed to the public.