With the push to erase drug fueled records why don't we use it as an opportunity to start fresh and build tracks more appropriate for metric distances? The outdated imperial measurements need to end. Specifically build tracks that are 500m and replace the 400 and 800 with the 500 and 1000m. And yes, get rid of the mile, which is a ridiculous unit of measurement anyway.
Metric is better wrote:
With the push to erase drug fueled records why don't we use it as an opportunity to start fresh and build tracks more appropriate for metric distances? The outdated imperial measurements need to end. Specifically build tracks that are 500m and replace the 400 and 800 with the 500 and 1000m. And yes, get rid of the mile, which is a ridiculous unit of measurement anyway.
No need to build new tracks, just plow a few inside lanes under and plant grass there.
good idea, ahole wrote:
No need to build new tracks, just plow a few inside lanes under and plant grass there.
Aren't there already some places that have long tracks? I think a km track would be awesome.
Just run on a horse race-course, or motor speedway.
Tracks are already metric - there's nothing imperial about 400. It goes in powers of 2 if you hadn't noticed: 1,2,4,8,16. And the mile will always remain a distance by itself - that's just a given. It's the only distance that is imperial in any case - HM and Mara aren't round numbers in either imperial or metric, they're just as easily quoted in km as in miles.
Why runners think in terms of mile paces baffles me. You're working on 5K distance, or 1K intervals, and you work it out in minutes per mile? Crazy. Changing completely to metric was a game changer for me - minutes per K is way easier.
The decimal system is outdated. We don't count on our fingers anymore (OK.. some letsrunners do). The binary system is the future, and although a 400 track is a reasonable trade off we should have either 256m (100000000m) or 512m (1000000000m) long tracks.