Having just completed a trip where I ran a track in every one of the lower 48 states, I feel that I have a little bit to add to this conversation.
First, weirdest track: For me, the vote definitely goes to Arkansas High School in Texarkana, AR. For starters, it was something like 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning when we started warming up for our timed mile, and we'd been without sleep for about 50 hours or so, so we were rather delerious to begin with. The track itself actually had no lane lines or markings of any sort, but it did have an intermittent concrete curb. It was composed of dirt, newly sprouted patches of grass, and completely random patches of rubber shavings...not exactly the best surface. The next thing to catch our attention were the ruts caused by rainwater. How could these have been formed? Well, you see, the track wasn't exactly level. There was a VERY discernible downhill on the first curve, and on the far curve...I'll get to that.
So we start jogging our warm-up mile when we get to the far curve and the track actually ceases to exist. It goes from a well-defined swath of dirt and gravel to...nothing. About 3/4 of the way through the curve, the track suddenly resumed and continued the rest of the way around the field. For some reason, this was insanely funny to us at the time (along with the fact that this completely grass stretch was uphill, to complement the opposite turn's decline!), but we still had a great time running in the early morning Arkansas humidity with the sun just beginning to rise as we finished.
BEST track definitely goes to Princeton University. The track is butted up against the open end of their massive football stadium, and there was an enormous grandstand with a very interesting wave-like architecture to it. Of course, the track itself was impeccable and there were hedges and an ivy-covered brick wall surrounding the facility as well. The main thing that was cool was how they integrated the track facility into their massive stadium. It was a nice compromise between giving the track its own facility, but still integrating the stadium into the mix. Other than the fact that we were running on it at 4:00 a.m. at the end of a very long stretch of running and driving, it was a great experience.
