WTF: Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on here with the track at Baylor University (pic)?

colostomy bag wrote:

rojo wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTzAMxTUz2A

I've never seen a track startup like that.

Can someone please explain the logic behind it?

To run from the specator's right to left is jarring enough, but why do they end in the middle of the stands?

And in this race last weekend with Bromell, why did they go from right to left considering that meant they ran into a headwind?

On that track, when they run left to right, does it end in the middle of the stands as well? Or the normal finish?

-Rojo

PS. Could it be that finishing races in the middle of the straight might actually be better fans? More would be close to the finish.

You must not get out much. Long straight aways are common. Running sprints with the wind is common. Nothing noteworthy about this at all.

He said against the wind, which is what they ran, not with the wind.

What makes you think it was against the wind? If true, perhaps the direction was reversed to avoid an illegal tail wind.

winds are illegal based on speed not direction

I asked this question in a different thread somewhere

Bouncy wrote:

What makes you think it was against the wind? If true, perhaps the direction was reversed to avoid an illegal tail wind.

It was only -0.1 m/s, so I think most likely it wouldn't have been worth it to change directions. Though I do agree left to right races are easier to watch.

my thought wrote:

winds are illegal based on speed not direction

I asked this question in a different thread somewhere

I assume you're trying to be funny. 0/10

habs wrote:

Bouncy wrote:

What makes you think it was against the wind? If true, perhaps the direction was reversed to avoid an illegal tail wind.

It was only -0.1 m/s, so I think most likely it wouldn't have been worth it to change directions. Though I do agree left to right races are easier to watch.

I would say look at the other heats around that. Usually when you see a slight headwind, it was just unlucky timing and the predominant wind was a tailwind. Up next to stands like that, gusty wind across the track can get changed between a headwind and a tailwind as the stands cause it to swirl. It also matters where the wind gauge is placed. It is placed in a specific place by the rules, but the stands can really change the wind reading to a slight head wind, when they may have run with a tailwind for the first half of the race when they weren't behind the stands.

The explanations leave a lot to be desired.

No one has explained why it finishes in the middle of the straight away.

When I first saw the setup, I thought perhaps it was set up that way so you could run as many meters as possible with a tail wind (with no grandstand blocking it). The wind gauge is placed in the middle of the straightaway where the the wind could presumably be less. A brilliant strategy to breakt the wind-aided rules.

Of course, the wind was coming from the wrong direction on this day.

So if you know why it starts so far back, please explain it. I guess maybe it starts that far back so the sprinters can set up without delaying the races on the oval.

just guessing that it might just be more interesting to the spectators to see the finish right in front of them.

but probbaly the wind is the main thing.

I think the reason it finishes in the straightaway is then more spectators are able to see the finish better. I don't think its an improvement but that's my guess.

For teams that host meets it's common to have two full straight aways (one on the frontside and one on the backside of the track so that they can run mens and womens 100m at the same time if there are a lot of heats. The men here are likely running on the backside straightaway. With regards to why it starts further back, that is a common trait for the 110mh so I'm guessing they started at the 110mh starting mark and finished 10m earlier making it notably before the curve.

~Keet

obviously, no one on this board actually knows. It was worth a shot (i mean this genuinely)why don't you email/call the meet director and ask?you have some clout in the running world, get your answer firsthand from the source instead of asking us, the Letsrun professional boneheads who only speculate.then come back with the answer and enlighten the community

rojo wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTzAMxTUz2A

I've never seen a track startup like that.

Can someone please explain the logic behind it?

To run from the specator's right to left is jarring enough, but why do they end in the middle of the stands?

And in this race last weekend with Bromell, why did they go from right to left considering that meant they ran into a headwind?

On that track, when they run left to right, does it end in the middle of the stands as well? Or the normal finish?

-Rojo

PS. Could it be that finishing races in the middle of the straight might actually be better fans? More would be close to the finish.

watch the video before guessing

Keet wrote:

For teams that host meets it's common to have two full straight aways (one on the frontside and one on the backside of the track so that they can run mens and womens 100m at the same time if there are a lot of heats. The men here are likely running on the backside straightaway. With regards to why it starts further back, that is a common trait for the 110mh so I'm guessing they started at the 110mh starting mark and finished 10m earlier making it notably before the curve.

~Keet

rojo wrote:

The explanations leave a lot to be desired.

No one has explained why it finishes in the middle of the straight away.

So if you know why it starts so far back, please explain it. I guess maybe it starts that far back so the sprinters can set up without delaying the races on the oval.

Nobody answered that question because:

1) We don't know for sure, since we aren't the meet director for this meet

2) You already gave the most obvious answer in your first post: so that the race ends in the middle of the stands, for best viewing of the most fans.

sdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:

Nobody answered that question because:

1) We don't know for sure, since we aren't the meet director for this meet

2) You already gave the most obvious answer in your first post: so that the race ends in the middle of the stands, for best viewing of the most fans.

I assuemd with thousands of exccollege track coaches and athletes on this forum that at least one of them would be up on currect track and field design and would easily be able to post the answer.

The fact that no one knows the answer makes it more interesting. A big part of letsrun.com is that is saves everyone time. It's way quick to let the wisdom of the crowd answer stuff.

Rojo,

I was at the KU relays last weekend and they did the same thing. I assume that you are correct that the director does it to speed up the races.

As someone whose put on meets and been a starter with limited help, there can be a lot of dead time for spectators and athletes waiting for the starter and meet helpers to clear off the track at the start of the back straight after the 100m / 110m HH and get set up at the start of the first turn for the next race. Starting a race in the overrun of the home straight eliminates the need to clear off the track of the starting blocks, etc. and for the starter to relocate more than a few meters for the next race.

I doubt this was the consideration but this would make a lot of sense to me.

It looks like because the track and support buildings and parking lots were built on a limited-size landfill/peninsula area, the track needed to be custom-built to fit the alloted space with the elongated straightaway placed in unusual spot.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Baylor+University/@31.5563039,-97.1113226,654m/data=

!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x636ad356faf7d7dd

Looks like the sprint finishes (from either direction) is in the midle of the grandstands

http://www.mapquest.com/search/results?page=0&centerOnResults=1&slug=%2Fus%2Ftexas%2Fbaylor-university-353704070&query=Baylor%20University

My guess is they one extremely long straight away. The finish line is probably in the same place for both and they can run in either direction to account for wind.