400 metre indoor track...

[MJD]

...to be built in Ottawa.



"The air-supported superdome, which will measure 660 feet long, 200 feet wide and 71 feet high, would cover the country's first 400-metre indoor track. There are more than 20 fieldhouses in Canada with 200-metre tracks, but not one is in Ottawa, although there have been several attempts to build one during the past three decades."




http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawaciti ... 71836ba27e

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

technical question for whomever:

Can "outdoor" WR's be set indoors if everything else is completely AOK except there is a roof ?

I asked this once before with regards to Bubka's 20'2". I understand that a underpinning of wood under runways and tracks is a no-no even if the surface is tartan. Perhaps that was Bubka's circumstance, or maybe just pure wood runway.

[gh]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

>technical question for whomever:

Can
>"outdoor" WR's be set indoors if everything
>else is completely AOK except there is a roof
>?

YES

I asked this once before with regards to
>Bubka's 20'2". I understand that a underpinning
>of wood under runways and tracks is a no-no even
>if the surface is tartan. Perhaps that was
>Bubka's circumstance, or maybe just pure wood
>runway.

Bubka's mark not ratified simply because the rule change which makes it acceptable came after his mark and IAAF has always been shortsighted about going back and ratifying things from earlier rules. (Like when they changed the age of women Juniors they refused to give Budd the WJR in the 5K, even though they had ratified the mark as a Senior WR!)

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

That seems a little strange.

I have some vague recollection of a 400m indoor track in somewhere like the GDR. Seem to remember reading about an indoor javelin competition. Any knowledge of that or am I suffering from somekind of premature senility?

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

Too bad the NCAA made such large tracks ineligible for qualifying. I could just see a bunch of schools flying to the Great White North in search of an advantage!

[michael lewis]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

"Can
>"outdoor" WR's be set indoors if everything
>else is completely AOK except there is a roof
>?

YES"

A completely wind-free facility? More or less?
Fantastic!

[trackhead]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

question Gary,

is it illegal to artificially create a 2.0m/s wind?

say you've got a big fan behind the straight away or runway keeping the wind @ 2.0m/s? i know it's ridiculous and sounds illegal but i was wondering if there is a written regualtion against such practices.

[Powell]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

Didn't a few Olympic stadiums have roofs over them as well ? That may not have been completely indoor arenas, but still effectively kept rain and wind out of the stadiums...

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

My understanding was that the IAAF wasn't going to recognize indoor/outdoor records any longer...just world records. If that's correct, I guess you could run 60m outdoor and get that record.

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

I think this is a great development. 200 meter indoor tracks are conducive to injury and some events, like the 200 meters, are practically meaningless indoors (the runners in the inside lanes have no chance at all).

I have often thought the indoor track should be simply eliminated, but this will be a great facility for indoor meets.

[gh]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

>My understanding was that the IAAF wasn't going
>to recognize indoor/outdoor records any
>longer...just world records. If that's correct, I
>guess you could run 60m outdoor and get that
>record.>>

No, they recognize "World Records" (Rule 260) and "World Indoor Records" (Rule 263). Think of the 260 events as "absolute world records," so as long as it's not a banked track, etc., doesn't matter what' sover your head.

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

Powell, if my memory and current knowledge is correct, the Olympic Stadium in Montreal was supposed to have a retractable roof, but they ran into money problems and it was not done before the OG's, and I'm not sure if it ever was since then.

IF it had been completed, perhaps it would have been closed the day it rained and Dwight Stones, the strong favorite, struggled to finish 3rd; I remember the commentary at the time remarked that the wet runway affected him worse than Wzsola (sp ?) or Joy, as he had a speedier approach necessitating a more difficult plant and liftoff. And maybe Dwight would have won an OG gold. Again if memory serves correctly he improved his WR both before and after the OG's that year.

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

Steve...you're correct in that the rain affected Stones more than Jatek and Greg but I've always thought that it was more of a head job than physical reality. The other two also had fast approaches. I clearly remember Dwight getting a broom and brushing water off the runway before he jumped...hardly a good way to psych up before jumping. If memory serves me correctly I think he did break the WR within two weeks of the Games. I hated jumpping in the rain (which, since I'm English, was something of a problem). My worst experience was in Sweden where we were warming up in a thunderstorm. I actually aquaplaned while taking off and fell over causing the competition to be postponed for a day. When we competed the next day I saw Sjoberg in action for the first time, he was about 17 and it was obvious he was going to be a great one. (Another story is that in LA in 1984 he and I discovered Long Island Ice Teas which resulted in us coming up with a story for the girls that we had medaled in judo; claimed that we were an anomaly in that we were tall and skinny but had tremendous reach so the opposition couldn't get at us!)

[trackhead]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

No, they recognize
>"World Records" (Rule 260) and "World Indoor
>Records" (Rule 263). Think of the 260 events as
>"absolute world records," so as long as it's
>not a banked track, etc., doesn't matter what'
>sover your head.

Bubka is the only athlete I can think of who's indoor mark is better than their outdoor.

Additionally, I don't think an outdoor 60m would be recognized as the outdoor 60m is not an IAAF event.

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: 400 metre indoor track...

It was off a wood runway, but for over 16 years, Warmerdam's WR of 15'7" and change was surpassed by his own indoor 15'8" and change.