Children biking on the track? (Read 503 times)

DoppleBock


    Our track has public access ~ It also has a sign:  No biking, Skateboarding or pets allowed on track ... does not stop people.

     

    We are pretty blessed - I have done 4-6 hour runs on the track and I might get 3 other people for awhile, usually alone or 1 person will show up and do 4-8 laps and leave.

     

    The only time it is off access is during sporting events and practice for the highschool teams. (Football and Track)

    Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

     

     

      Nice track, with a 1 mile start arc and everything. Sweet.

      Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
      We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
      LedLincoln


      not bad for mile 25

        Donut Cheezeburger 'cause I like that option.


        On On

          Re walking vs running on the track, it is not a matter of rights but of safety.  Just as on the highway, people traveling at different speeds don't mix well.  So it is wiser and safer for runners/walkers to take different lanes on the track.

           

          I can agree that they should separate them selves for safety reasons but is there a "code" that the runner gets the inside lane?  Or is it first come first served?  If the walker arrives early they get to choose which lane to run in, if the jogger gets there first they get to choose?  All lanes are measured, can't someone doing intervals do them in lane 4 the same way they do them in lane 1?

          DoppleBock


            Not sure if it is fair or not, but law of the jungle - Fastest runners get lane #1.  In between intervals, move out.

             

            Yes - each lane distance is calculatable, but most people are data freaks and need to know exactly what they did a the time they do it.  They usually do not have a lane #4 converter on hand.

             

            I really don't care that much - I have run many times in lane #4 - 8 for intervals through the years.

             

             

            I can agree that they should separate them selves for safety reasons but is there a "code" that the runner gets the inside lane?  Or is it first come first served?  If the walker arrives early they get to choose which lane to run in, if the jogger gets there first they get to choose?  All lanes are measured, can't someone doing intervals do them in lane 4 the same way they do them in lane 1?

            Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

             

             

            jEfFgObLuE


            I've got a fever...

              Slugs should stay out of the inside lanes, and bike should stay off completely.

              On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.


              Feeling the growl again

                 

                I can agree that they should separate them selves for safety reasons but is there a "code" that the runner gets the inside lane?  Or is it first come first served?  If the walker arrives early they get to choose which lane to run in, if the jogger gets there first they get to choose?  All lanes are measured, can't someone doing intervals do them in lane 4 the same way they do them in lane 1?

                 

                Convention....which one can't expect those not fully acquainted with track etiquette to know...is that slower track users yield the inside to faster.  Thus walkers use the outer lanes.

                 

                Outer lanes are typically not marked for anything over 400m.  After all, for races they may have starting marks for longer races but you cut in at a set point.  Without doing a bunch of math, you can't just use lane 4 for say 800/mile intervals or a 4 mile tempo run.

                 

                People doing intervals have a reason to care that their distance is accurate.  Walkers typically do not.  I do not see why yielding the inside lanes to people doing measured workouts would bother anybody, it just seems like common sense courtesy.  If I am just using the track to run a few miles I have often yielded the inside lanes to people doing intervals...even if their intervals are slower than my running pace.

                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                 

                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                 


                On On

                  Convention....which one can't expect those not fully acquainted with track etiquette to know...is that slower track users yield the inside to faster.  Thus walkers use the outer lanes.

                   

                  Outer lanes are typically not marked for anything over 400m.  After all, for races they may have starting marks for longer races but you cut in at a set point.  Without doing a bunch of math, you can't just use lane 4 for say 800/mile intervals or a 4 mile tempo run.

                   

                  People doing intervals have a reason to care that their distance is accurate.  Walkers typically do not.  I do not see why yielding the inside lanes to people doing measured workouts would bother anybody, it just seems like common sense courtesy.  If I am just using the track to run a few miles I have often yielded the inside lanes to people doing intervals...even if their intervals are slower than my running pace.

                  Interesting.  Never did intervals on a track, rarely run on track.

                   

                  The nice thing about doing the math though is you only have to do it once and it would be good for the rest of your life.  Just figure out what your intervals would be for every lane then you are set for life.  It may be a bit of work once but then you can do your intervals in any lane and get them right.

                   

                  It sounds like it just comes down to common courtesy which is great if everyone applied it evenly.  All to often I see people with a feeling that they are more important than the others around them and it causes problems when simple courtesy to others would have made the entire situation simpler.  ie., people who push their grocery cart down the center of the aisle.  Really people you can't move over so I can get by?

                  Chris T


                    There is not one track here that is not padlocked. Therefore, I would love to have a track to share with kids on bikes.


                    Feeling the growl again

                      Interesting.  Never did intervals on a track, rarely run on track.

                       

                      The nice thing about doing the math though is you only have to do it once and it would be good for the rest of your life.  Just figure out what your intervals would be for every lane then you are set for life.  It may be a bit of work once but then you can do your intervals in any lane and get them right.

                       

                      It sounds like it just comes down to common courtesy which is great if everyone applied it evenly.  All to often I see people with a feeling that they are more important than the others around them and it causes problems when simple courtesy to others would have made the entire situation simpler.  ie., people who push their grocery cart down the center of the aisle.  Really people you can't move over so I can get by?

                      Re the math, that would be true except track lane width is not standard and so you need to re-run the math each time you use a different track if the lane width varies.  Smile  Plus you need to mark somehow where your distance ends.

                       

                      Yup, I am with you on being annoyed at people who seek to be oblivious to how their actions impact others.  I think that is more frequent than people consciously thinking they are more important, though I am sure both exist.

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       

                      Teresadfp


                      One day at a time

                         

                         Yup, I am with you on being annoyed at people who seek to be oblivious to how their actions impact others.  I think that is more frequent than people consciously thinking they are more important, though I am sure both exist.

                         

                        During the winter, I sometimes run on the small indoor track at the Y.  The weight room and all of the exercise machines are in the middle of the track, so people have to cross the track to do their workout. It's bad enough when people walk right in front of me while I'm running, but the people I REALLY don't get are the ones who stop ON the track and have a conversation with someone!  What the heck??  I have to run AROUND you?  I really can't believe how clueless people can be.

                        LedLincoln


                        not bad for mile 25

                           During the winter, I sometimes run on the small indoor track at the Y.  The weight room and all of the exercise machines are in the middle of the track, so people have to cross the track to do their workout. It's bad enough when people walk right in front of me while I'm running, but the people I REALLY don't get are the ones who stop ON the track and have a conversation with someone!  What the heck??  I have to run AROUND you?  I really can't believe how clueless people can be.

                           

                          I wish you could just barrel into them.  After getting knocked down a few times, they'd learn.

                          mab411


                          Proboscis Colossus

                             

                            I agree.  I don't know that these parents were "bad".  I think they were trying to get outside and be active, and a track seemed like a logical choice (even though those of us within the running community know it's not the logical choice).

                             

                            Regarding the track, though.... I haven't had access to a middle school or high school track in over 10 years.  Football here in Texas makes track access for runners impossible.  Damn Futball...  They lock the gates and prevent access.  The only way to get in is to hop a fence at any of the local tracks.

                             

                             

                             

                            I agree, I don't necessarily think parents with kids on track = bad parenting.  As long as everybody involved has some idea of good track etiquette - which can simply be summed up as "don't get in anyone's way" - I'm just happy to see people in East Texas being active.  I don't have a problem with small kids on the track on bikes, as long as they're not erratic (which doesn't look to be the case in the OP pic).  As for the question of why walk on the track, I'm sure it's just a good place to walk and chat without having to worry about traffic (walking trails?  Here?  Good luck.).

                             

                            KerCan, what size schools are you near, and in what area?  Here in rural East Texas, at the 2A and 3A schools, the tracks are almost always open.  I'll even get out there sometimes during track practice at the school I work in...but of course I'm very careful to only use the outside lanes (which usually aren't used during practice), and I'm very careful to stay out of the way.

                             

                            One time I was out there for a warmup run, and a couple of students were out there, just walking/running for exercise.  The bigger one must have been a new student, because I overheard his friend tell him, "that's our band director, and he can outrun every one of us!"

                             

                            He was wrong, of course (outlast, definitely, but not outrun)...but I must admit, it was fun to learn I apparently have a "rep!"

                            "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people


                            Feeling the growl again

                               

                              I wish you could just barrel into them.  After getting knocked down a few times, they'd learn.

                               

                              Heh.  It's bad enough when the track-ignorant do it but....

                               

                              My buddy and I used to do a few all-out 200s on a 200m indoor track at the end of our interval workouts.  Typically we were finishing up as the local official track club was getting their workout instructions on the infield...so we were done and off before they clogged the track.   Well once as I came hauling around turn 3 at 29sec 200m pace, one of the women blindly stepped into lane 1 without bothering to look up-track.  Fortunately she was <100lbs, somehow I managed to pick her up while avoiding a direct impact, slow down, and set her back down a few strides later.

                               

                              The worst I ever saw is then two female college track athletes blindly stepped onto an indoor track during the fast heat of the men's 400m.  They took out the lead 4 runners, at least two of which incurred significant injuries.

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               

                              MrH


                                It's not just kids or even college athletes who don't always have track awareness... there was the famous incident at the Stuttgart indoor Grand Prix where Gabriella Szabo (who won multiple medals at the Olympics and World Championships) got demolished walking across the long jump runway without looking,  just after she won the 1500m.

                                 

                                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsNdQIL3oTc

                                The process is the goal.

                                Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.