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What are the dimensions of a High School Track?
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Jafar
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 1:55 pm    Post subject: What are the dimensions of a High School Track? Reply with quote

I'm assuming this is a pretty standard thing. Is the inside lane of the track 400 meters? If not, what is? I think a quarter mile is like 403 meters or something, so is there a particular lane that comes out to about that?

Thanks for the help.
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Micah Ward
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The inside lane of a high school track is usually 400 meters. We have discussed before which lane would measure out to be a mile but we never came to an agreement. I think it might be the second or third.
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Paul
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you stay to the outer part of the first lane you will make up the distance between 400m and 440 yds. In a post a number of months ago, Dan said that if you started on one of the High Hurdle hurdle slash marks, and ran four laps, finishing on the next hurdle slash mark, you will have made up the distance between 1600m and 1 mile. I am assuming this is the info you are after.
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Dan
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2002 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What Paul said. Smile

4 laps on a 400m track is 1600m, which leaves you roughly 9m short of a mile. Conveniently, that is also very close to the spacing between the high hurdles. So, you could start from say, hurdle number 5, and finish 4 laps later at hurdle number 6 and have run almost exactly a mile.

However, the catch is that you need to measure the track to make sure a) it is metric (not 440y as many older HS tracks are), and b) that it is accurately measured, otherwise the rest is purely academic...

Dan
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2002 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aren't most tracks that are kept in good enough condition to have hurdle marks painted on them 400m now? Confused The only 440 yard tracks out there are all pretty much still cinder.
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Dan
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2002 11:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've seen a number of all-weather surfaced 440y high school tracks, even the occasional college one, so I know they're out there...

Dan
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training2run
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2002 3:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I asked this same question some time ago, and the answer I was given, was that on a 400 meter track, the inside of the second lane was 440.

Since I am in Mexico, one would assume that the nearby track is 400 meters and that's what the various coaches have been relying upon.

However, we finally mesure the thing, and find that it is actually slightly over 440 - we're faster than we thought. I'll put it another way: we're not quite as slow as we thought. Dr.(Mad Dog Mike) Schreiber www.training2run.com
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graeme
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2002 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The track where I live is 400m, but it has a special line marked off for the mile that's 9 or 10 meters behind the finish line, so if you do four laps from there, it's exactly a mile. (supposedly) Makes things a lot easier... not that I ever use it Smile
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Dan
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 26, 2002 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I asked this same question some time ago, and the answer I was given, was that on a 400 meter track, the inside of the second lane was 440.

Whoever told you that was mistaken... Not all lanes are the same width, so there's no way that could hold true in all cases. Since metric tracks have nothing to do with Imperially measured ones, I'd be surprised if it's ever true...

Graeme, haven't heard from you in a while! How'd the season go?

Dan
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2002 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually all tracks used for official high school and college track meets have lanes of a standard width of 42 inches (1.07m) with a line width of 2 inches (5.08 cm).
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Paul
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2002 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DG's right about that. You have to be able to fit a hurdle into a lane exactly. I have seen some tracks where the hurdle size and lane size didn't match up. Talk about screwed up!!
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Dan
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2002 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know about official meets (I assume you mean major championships), but there definitely are different width-laned tracks used in local HS/college championship meets. I believe there is a minimum width, but there is also a wider option that accomodates much nicer hurdles. So, I stand by my statement that not all lane widths are the same (and how often do you jog a mile on a track designed for NCAA Championship purposes?).

Dan
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2002 7:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pnb470 wrote:
If you stay to the outer part of the first lane you will make up the distance between 400m and 440 yds. In a post a number of months ago, Dan said that if you started on one of the High Hurdle hurdle slash marks, and ran four laps, finishing on the next hurdle slash mark, you will have made up the distance between 1600m and 1 mile. I am assuming this is the info you are after.

Actually, it was my idea.
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Dan
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2002 10:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do believe you're correct. Smile (I remember not coming up with the idea originally, but being involved in the discussion of it.)

Dan
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 28, 2002 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

___Sometimes, I happen to be ingenious. Dan helped me to clarify my idea because I spelled it out in a haphazard manner.
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