What exactly were Cinder Tracks like?

Yes I ran on cinder tracks many times growing up in Seattle. Not much different than running on dirt although a bit noisier. Wore contacts and it wasn’t unusual to get stuff kicked up into your eyes. And if it was wet out, your shoes and clothes were filthy afterward. Didn’t have the exotic drainage systems like now so there could be large puddles of water that you were forced to run through. Most of the meets were on the old black asphalt-based artificial tracks, but occasionally there’d be one on cinders. We’d use 3/4” spikes for those, and you didn’t want to get tangled up with other runners with those things flying around.

First of all there were a variety of cinder tracks, from those made from spent coal cinders with lots of large large cinders that small high schools might have, to better ones made from crushed stone and stone dust. However, there were others made out of discarded WW2 bricks out of England (en-tout-cas track at Rutgers)

https://www.google.com/search?ei=nyEiXe-dKdCb5gLk_oCwAg&q=et+tut+cu+track+facility+at+Rutgers+in+1964&oq=et+tut+cu+track+facility+at+Rutgers+in+1964&gs_l=psy-ab.3...12847.15215..15427...0.0..0.267.1606.0j4j4......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j35i302i39j33i299j33i160.Gnwxi4Ivon8

, while many of the tracks out in California were made out of clay, I believe. Maybe someone who was from out the can speak to that.

Some of these tracks were loose and by the middle of the meet, lane one was chewed up quite a bit. This was even the case at Penn Relays when many runners would be covered in black, racing in a large relay race and sitting behind the leaders.

The clay tracks in California were quite hard and held up better during competition as long as there were no heavy rains.

Most of these type of tracks were screen dragged, similar to how infields in major league ball parks are dragged and then rolled with a smaller version of an asphalt roller used on roads. If the inside lane became too chewed up during a meet, maintenance people would take the screen and drag it around the track to try and smooth out the inside lanes a bit. This was done mores o at bigger meets than when small dual meets were held.

As to sound, yes, you could hear the sound of other runners next to you and behind you. I suppose it was similar to the sound made when running on pavement with flats. I remember one time thinking someone was right behind me only to discover the sound I was hearing was my paper number on my back flapping in the wind.

I would imagine for the video shots you need of someone running, you could still find a cinder track in existence (there was one at a prep school in Eastern Ct not too long ago). The should would probably have to be tight, as those facilities are quite old and often in disrepair.

I much preferred dirt tracks to cinders, as they were easier on the legs and much more comfortable to run on.

Running with flats on cinder tracks was quite slippery.

You had to use spikes on cinders when running at faster speeds to keep from slipping.

Cinder tracks made more noise.

I miss having dirt and clay tracks to run on, as they were much better for training than the modern hard tracks.

MovieMaker wrote:

I'm making a short film about a famous runner from the mid-1960s. Thing is, he ran on cinder and dirt tracks his entire career. I want to know if any of you guys have run on those kind of tracks and if so, what did they feel like? How did it sound when you were taking a step? What did they look like up close? What were they made of?

I'm figuring out on how I want to shoot this, I have 3 options

1. Shoot a video of the runners on a 400m track and CGI it to look like a 440y Cinder track

2. Find one of the few cinder tracks still in existance

3. Cover a 400m track with cinders or dirt

Cinder/dirt 440 yard tracks designed for events in U.S. in early to mid-20th Century had 120 yard straightaways. Two-hundred-twenty yard dash on straightaway was a high school and college event. Placing cinder/dirt on 400m tracks designed post-1978 may not capture what it was like racing on tight turns on 440 yard cinder/dirt tracks.

There were different qualities- depending in the cinders. Some cinders were "bigger" and you could feel them through your spikes- not comfortable.

Some were smooth and fast- when they were in good condition.

Someone- a great runner who ran on cinders and all weather- said shorter people (me) were at a disadvantage and when you got tired they kind of swallowed you up- not as much energy return as all weather tracks.

I would like to have one to do workouts on. But I guess the cinders got real expensive.

I remember every spring our school getting dump trucks full of cinders that were rolled.

Before every meet our grounds crew to roll them and line the track.

Hard to believe cinders were expensive. Weren't they essentially garbage ?

A few things to consider:

1. Cinder tracks usually had a concrete curb on the inside and outside. Most tracks today dont have anything like this.

2. The lines in a cinder track were chalk. Every line was white, even exchange zones. No triangles anywhere. Also, many times the lane lines were not perfecty straight, especially on the front/back stretch. Lines were put in with a machine that had like 9 chalk hoppers and it was pulled by a tractor. If the driver was wobbly, the lines would be, too.

3. Starting blocks were different. They had long spikes like an guttervnail that you would pound into the track.

If you use CGI option, you'll have a lot of editing to get these nuances right. My suggestion is to find an existing cinder track and use it for filming.

Unlimited budget? Build one for a school which can’t otherwise afford a track ...

During shooting, host a meet and get some current runners to test themselves against each other and the past greats. Use the crowd as extras.

Make a documentary about the history, the track, and the meet. Use it to promote your film.

Not a bad idea, but definitely not an unlimited budget. I'd love to get the extras involved. I'm trying to make the film accurate so I'm having a few friends that are sub 2 800m runners as extras to make the pace look correct.

There is still a cinder track at NW Classen HS in okc.

I trained and raced on cinders my whole HS career. Late 80's.

They were awesome.

Bob schul country wrote:

I trained and raced on cinders my whole HS career. Late 80's.

They were awesome.

Unless you fell. Those things could inflict some damage

Pre-Jamin Seattle wrote:

Yes I ran on cinder tracks many times growing up in Seattle. Not much different than running on dirt although a bit noisier. Wore contacts and it wasn’t unusual to get stuff kicked up into your eyes. And if it was wet out, your shoes and clothes were filthy afterward. Didn’t have the exotic drainage systems like now so there could be large puddles of water that you were forced to run through. Most of the meets were on the old black asphalt-based artificial tracks, but occasionally there’d be one on cinders. We’d use 3/4” spikes for those, and you didn’t want to get tangled up with other runners with those things flying around.

This pretty much nailed it

Bib #1 wrote:

Bob schul country wrote:

I trained and raced on cinders my whole HS career. Late 80's.

They were awesome.

Unless you fell. Those things could inflict some damage

One of my first meets I watching the mile relay. The leading team's third runner came to the exchange and their fourth runner took off too quickly. The third runner went spread eagle into the cinder track and it was not a pretty sight. He was bleeding all over.

Well, you'd always end up with some of the cinders on you (especially if the track was wet)!

The later in the meet, the worse the track would get -- looser and with the lane marking worn away. It could definitely impact performance.

Plus, since you had to wear long spikes to get traction, in the distance races you could pretty well be sure you;d end up with some spike wounds; you definitely did not want to be in the middle of a pack.

I ran 100 and 4x100 on a light grey cinder track once. I was worried about slipping but remember being surprised how non-slippy it was (was wearing spikes of course). It felt ok but quite different to grass or rubber - harder obviously, and it had a hard, crunchy sound to it like you might expect. I ran exactly the time I expected (and won), so it didn't affect my performance although I remember that it felt subjectively slightly slower, not as willing to help you along as (summer-time) grass, which is what I ran on most of the time. You wouldn't want to fall on it at speed.

Bob schul country wrote:

I trained and raced on cinders my whole HS career. Late 80's.

They were awesome.

they were old school for sure-yeah i didn't race a lot on synthetic until my junior year of high school -1989...only drag was if it rained a lot prior to the race!

There is a cinder track in carlinville illinois at Blackburn college. It’s in good shape.