Running on a track

[Wild Bill]

Believe it or not I have not done a lot of running on a track. I'm not much of a runner. I have been doing it intermitantly along a long stretch of road but mostly walking briskly. My survival job at Wally World is physicaly taxing so I haven't gone balls out. The problem is that I have just been told there is a PT test for the security job I am after. Up untill now I haven't been training with any goal in mind. Now I need to see where I am at.

I have been told that four times around a school track is a mile but what lane should I be in if I want to get an accurate time? The track I am going to test myself on has eight.

 

[elder999]

I have been told that four times around a school track is a mile but what lane should I be in if I want to get an accurate time? The track I am going to test myself on has eight.

Depending upon the age of the track, the inside lane will be 1/4 of a mile (440 yds.) or 400 meters (about 8 ft. short of 440 yards.) The outermost lane. Just about anything, even in this country, built from somewhere in the 70's on is going to be a 400 meter track.

Good luck.

 

[jks9199]

Don't worry too much about which lane to run in, though the inside lane is the most accurate. If you look at most school tracks, you'll see staggered start marks that take into account the difference in distance; if you really want to worry about, just be consistent with those as well as the finish line. But the difference isn't going to be huge... especially for a test like you're anticipating. In fact, their distance may not be totally accurate at the test...

 

[Bruno@MT]

Given that the difference is only minor, it won't matter much. If it is really important to you, run the outside of the track. That'll give you the worst case. If you can do that, than you'll always do better on your real test.

 

[shane]

well i think f you really want to worry about, just be consistent with those as well as the finish line. But the difference isn't going to be huge... especially for a test like you're anticipating. In fact, their distance may not be totally accurate at the test.

 

[MBuzzy]

Be careful with the outside lane, over the course of a mile, the outside lane may increase your mileage by .1 miles give or take.....with 8 lanes, that's a big difference. 0.1 miles could be close to a minute more on your time.

 

[Hand Sword]

As a side issue, I had trouble doing the distance run on a track in the beginning. Then a friend advised me to stop running on a track and run on a beach. Once you can do even 1/2 the distance you would do on a track, on the beach, you easily finish a track run. For me, it worked great! Track runs are cake now.

(Then the lane your in won't matter.)