220 straightaway races

[wineturtle]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... rdofri.jpg

Remember running from the chute?

[jhc68]

It was daunting looking down that straight-away from the start line, and once you started, at about the 130 mark, it seemed like the race might never end...

[Powell]

How many wind gauges did they use?

[lovetorun]

I seem to remember Arnold Tripp of Crawford H.S. (San Diego) running a shocking 20.8 on the strait way back in about 1962. I think it was wind aided. That's when the WHOLE race could be wind aided!

[tandfman]

Always having been a fan rather than a sprinter, the thing I remember most about those 220 straight races was trying to time them, particularly on a sunny day where it was almost impossible to see the flash of the gun. Sometimes it was tough even to see the smoke. And then, of course, there was the usual problem of bad hand timing, which I think was worse before auto timing showed some hand timers what they were doing wrong.

Bottom line was that many of those 220 straight hand times were questionable.

[gh]

I think dj may have commented on this before: the problem in the LA Coliseum.

I'm told it was awesome because they started outside the stadium, came through the tunnel at full speed and of course the fans had no idea what had happened to that point.

But how did the timers see the starter?

(or do I have this all confused?)

[tandfman]

But how did the timers see the starter?

I imagine they stood on the track at the finish line. If the starter stood behind the runners, rather than alongside the track, he would have been visible to anyone standing at the finish line. Then when the gun sounded, the timers would have almost 20 second to get back to their timers' stands.

[dukehjsteve]

re the track at Randall's Island, was that chute ever actually there, or was it merely in that artist's drawing ? I am pretty sure that it was not there in 1958, which was my first time there. ( informal warm up meet for US team before they left for Moscow)

[wineturtle]

re the track at Randall's Island, was that chute ever actually there, or was it merely in that artist's drawing ? I am pretty sure that it was not there in 1958, which was my first time there. ( informal warm up meet for US team before they left for Moscow)

Chute was there 1959-64 for sure,not sure when they resurfaced it (66-69 was not inNYC) but was just an outline in the 70s.
I`ll be talking to folks from RandallsIslandSportsCommision at [email protected] and will see what construction archives are available.

seen in 1948 pix
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mlPoGU4VqSk/S ... +wards.jpg


see dotted line indicating track
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=40. ... n=-73.9225

[tc]

Re: the Coliseum. Before one of its many "remodelings," prior to the LA Dodgers arrival and the installation of individual seats, the old quarter-mile track was actually some distance to the west of its 1963-late 80s location. The surface of the field was about 15' higher than it is now, and there was a lot more usable space; today's lower stands did not exist. The old track had a second full turn, outside the "normal" one, in the open (peristyle) end. 220 races (and one-turn 440s, which used the outer turn) started in the tunnel; the track surface extended to the beginning of the curved incline that leads up and out of the stadium. The starter would stand far enough out for the timers to (presumably) see the flash of his gun. The sound would have certainly energized any sleepy sprinter.

Here's a view of the old stadium:
http://www.stadiumsofnfl.com/past/lamemfoot.jpg

[bad hammy]

seen in 1948 pix
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mlPoGU4VqSk/S ... +wards.jpg

Interesting that they had a baseball diamond in this picture. Left and right field homers look pretty easy but that one out to center was a bitch!

[dukehjsteve]

re the track at Randall's Island, was that chute ever actually there, or was it merely in that artist's drawing ? I am pretty sure that it was not there in 1958, which was my first time there. ( informal warm up meet for US team before they left for Moscow)

Chute was there 1959-64 for sure,not sure when they resurfaced it (66-69 was not inNYC) but was just an outline in the 70s.
I`ll be talking to folks from RandallsIslandSportsCommision at [email protected] and will see what construction archives are available.

seen in 1948 pix
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mlPoGU4VqSk/S ... +wards.jpg


see dotted line indicating track
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=40. ... n=-73.9225

Wino, if you say it was there, then it was there. I guess I just never noticed it. It certainly was not used at the AAU meet in '61 . Thanks for the info.

[Halfmiler2]

They used a chute as late as 1970 at the NJ high school championships - not just for the 200, but to eliminate the first turn of all the longer races. I was third leg in the Mile Relay at the state meet so it did not affect me directly, but I do recall running a straight 220 in a local race once and it did seem like forever to the finish line.

[Walt Murphy]

After running relay 220s in the friendly confines of the Armory during my freshman year in high school, I freaked out when I was asked to run the event on the deceptive Randall's straightaway. I told my coach, "There's no way I can run that far!".