Question about mile length on a track

[josephjacques]

I am a beginning runner that would eventually like to run at least three miles per day, four days per week.
I have started running at a high school track near my home.
My question relates to what is a mile's length on a typical track? is it four laps from the inside lane, a center lane or outside lane?
Thanks.

[gh]

Re: Question about mile length on a track

It's the inside lane. If the track is made out of synthetic, then it's almost certainly 400 meters around, not 440y, meaning that each lap is actually about 3 yards short, so you end up running 12y short of a mile. But for your non-competitive purposes, simply treat it as if it's full distance.

[EPelle]

Re: Question about mile length on a track

If from Bay Area, CA, some junior high tracks are 330y around. Some kids told me once they ran 4.30 in the "mile" (i.e.: 4 laps to the mile) in 7th - 8th grade, when in fact they had run 1320y in those times, respectively.

[MJD]

Re: Question about mile length on a track

>It's the inside lane. If the track is made out of synthetic, then it's almost
>certainly 400 meters around, not 440y, meaning that each lap is actually about
>3 yards short, so you end up running 12y short of a mile. But for your
>non-competitive purposes, simply treat it as if it's full distance.

Just to show how rounding can produce a much larger error when a multiple is applied to it, 1600 meters would, in actual fact, be about 9.344 meters less than one mile which is much less than 12 yards. But gh is right. For your purposes, what he is suggesting is fine although I'd suggest to a beginner that he/she should stay off of the track. You have to get past that first three months when you lose most beginners and, IMHO, running on a track will make it tougher to do that.