Should standard tracks be 9 lanes? I think finals are more interesting when not everyone scores.

I would enjoy this just because it would be fun to listen to all the whiny, poor mouthing programs out there complain about not being able to update their facilities.

Want to be able to host track meets? Maybe try not being poor, you bunch of poor people!

Or even 10 lane tracks.

I recall someone talking about a college with a ten lane track.

Maybe in the Big Ten.

The curb in lane 10 was so high that it was more than .5 meters higher than the finish line in lane 1,

so an 800 meter guy could run an illegal net downhill from lane 10.

NO. It would be more entertaining to have random sized tracks (think Franklin Field) so that the start, finish, split times and exchange zones are all wacky.

You could have the same effect without having to redesign every track that hosts a championship meet by only having the top 7 score.

I don't think it adds any excitement, rarely does a meet come down to 1 point from last place in the last event. If the 1 point comes from last place in the middle of the meet, no one is going to take much notice when it happens.

Miami University (Ohio, not Florida) has a 10 lane track

make lane six 384.3m wrote:

NO. It would be more entertaining to have random sized tracks (think Franklin Field) so that the start, finish, split times and exchange zones are all wacky.

We already have tracks with random dimensions. Some tracks have 100m curves and some tracks have 120m curves. That's enough of a home meet advantage.

random dimensions wrote:

make lane six 384.3m wrote:

NO. It would be more entertaining to have random sized tracks (think Franklin Field) so that the start, finish, split times and exchange zones are all wacky.

We already have tracks with random dimensions. Some tracks have 100m curves and some tracks have 120m curves. That's enough of a home meet advantage.

What track has 100m curves?

9 lane final wrote:

I think it makes the event more interesting when there is still a real chance of failing to score even after you've made the final.

Why? I don't see how that's more interesting.

never heard of this wrote:

random dimensions wrote:

We already have tracks with random dimensions. Some tracks have 100m curves and some tracks have 120m curves. That's enough of a home meet advantage.

What track has 100m curves?

All of them that are symmetrical... 100/100/100/100

I’m too lazy to google it for you but I believe the IAAF site has a drawing in the rule book.

make lane six 384.3m wrote:

never heard of this wrote:

What track has 100m curves?

All of them that are symmetrical... 100/100/100/100

I’m too lazy to google it for you but I believe the IAAF site has a drawing in the rule book.

You should try not being lazy then. Most tracks have a straight of 84.39m and a straight of 115.61m, and many tracks have a longer curve.

Hardloper wrote:

Most tracks have a straight of 84.39m and a straight of 115.61m

Most tracks have straights of two different lengths? I think you're making this up.

The IAAF doesn't have meets where everyone scores, and it doesn't care what little mom-and-pop imperial measurements league NCAA does. Conversely, colleges don't care about standards at all.

btw does NCAA even have on the spot random testing yet? Last I heard, testers couldn't hit the athletes up in the middle of the night, allowing safe after-dinner microdosing.

Hardloper wrote:You should try not being lazy then. Most tracks have a straight of 84.39m and a straight of 115.61m, and many tracks have a longer curve.

Give me proof of this claim. You won't be able to do it. I know that those are the recommended dimensions by the IAAF, but most tracks are not made to those specifications. Nearly all the tracks that I have been to are much closer to 100m on the straights and curves than to the IAAF recommended distances. I have been to a couple of tracks that have the short straights and long curves but they are in the minority. So please prove to us that MOST tracks have the exact dimensions that you are claiming.

never heard of this wrote:

random dimensions wrote:

We already have tracks with random dimensions. Some tracks have 100m curves and some tracks have 120m curves. That's enough of a home meet advantage.

What track has 100m curves?

Stielow Field, Mendota, MN and University of Saint Thomas, Saint Paul, MN. [If these tracks have been torn up and rebuilt over the past few years then I stand corrected.]

Well, I just got to oversee the building of a track. It is 100/100/100/100 and is 8 lanes. This was the only way to allow it to fit into our pre-existing stadium.

GTFO if you think that most tracks are of the long curve/short straight variety. Maybe new ones that are designed to have soccer on the infield and are built from scratch in a new stadium.....Most HS tracks I've been to are designed around standard 'merican football fields.

Then there's this one, somewhere around 120 on the straights.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7596036,-120.8543645,187m/data=!3m1!1e3

CoachB wrote:

Well, I just got to oversee the building of a track. It is 100/100/100/100 and is 8 lanes. This was the only way to allow it to fit into our pre-existing stadium.

GTFO if you think that most tracks are of the long curve/short straight variety. Maybe new ones that are designed to have soccer on the infield and are built from scratch in a new stadium.....Most HS tracks I've been to are designed around standard 'merican football fields.

Then there's this one, somewhere around 120 on the straights.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7596036,-120.8543645,187m/data=!3m1!1e3

Macalester dimensions are roughly: 80m straitaway with 120m curves. I know I made no statement regarding dimensions of most high school tracks.

Panithinaikos Stadium in Athens.

Not quite 100m on the turn

https://www.athensguide.com/panathinaiko-stadium/panathinaiko4.jpg

Most of the old high school tracks had equal length and straights to incorporate American football - (120 yard straights and 120 yard turns)- curb radius of 36.5 m

There is an IAAF "Standard" international track with approximately 84 m straights and 115 turns. The IAAF allows flexibility but they rarely go too far below the 36.5 radius. The upper limits are restricted by a radius that cannot exceed 50 m in the running line for world records. This would normally be for 9 lane track with 4 foot wide (1.22 m) lanes.

Icahn Stadium in NY has a radius of 39m while the old Eugene is closer to the ideal 36.5. Most collegiate tracks are over 36.5 m.

Wouldn't a simpler and cheaper solution be to just give out 7 points instead of 8?