Oregon, Hawaii and at least parts of California do the 1500m and 3000m. I don’t think any other states do.
I’m clearly wrong here. I last looked at the national leader boards for middle schools early in the season. Only west coast were represented there early in the spring and I got the wrong impression. Oregon dominates the 6th-8th grade 1500 brackets, but not so in HS.
It’s easier to just do full laps since you’ll be able to start and finish on the same line. Many tracks don’t have the extra lines drawn for those events.
We did in the late 70s and early 80s in my state. Or at least we assumed we did because we had 440 yard (quarter mile) tracks. But I don't recall a lot of 440 tracks actually getting converted to 400m. They might have been 400m all along, who knows? Anyway...
My best guess on why 1600 and 3200 were adopted is because a very large number of schools, especially small ones, don't have knowledgeable coaches. The job is often a reward for the football 🏈 or basketball coach or given to someone who never ran track but does the best they can. If you ask them to host a meet and have a 1 mile and 2 mile run, they likely won't realize that a mile is 1609+ m and won't know where to start the race and might just do 4 and 8 laps anyway.
Summary - it's easier to do full laps and harder to screw up.
Maybe Illinois is different, but when I did track in 2010-13 every meet needed a registered started even small dual meets. Partly so it was an even field but also so events were run correctly.
tbh I always found that odd coming from a UK perspective, like if your going metric why not do what every other country does and do the internationally recognised distances of 1500m and 3000m or just straight up go for the mile and 2 mile, I guess it's easier in the sense they all start from the same line maybe?
Why not the 1500 or 3000 should be the question. Keep it consistent thru levels.
And I'm sure those females can gut out the extra 100 or 200m...never understood changing the distance of mid distance races in hs for gender.
I think the question is why the 1500 and 3000 were run in the first place, ANYWHERE. The 100, 200, 400, 800 all make sense on a 400m track. How come they added the 1500 and 3000, instead of multiples of 400, e.g. 1600 and 3200.
Actually, the way the 1500 starts makes more sense to me. Just my opinion. Athletes have the entire backstretch 100 straightaway to break to the inside. Leads to less fuckery than the curved start of the 1600, unless that's your thing.
I believe they just wanted more “round numbers”, even if it didn’t make sense in laps. Even the 5000 is 12.5 laps, but running a 4800 just sounds weird.
I’ve yet to hear/read a satisfactory answer. I do know that tracks were not always 400m. I believe the track at the first modern Olympics in 1896 was around 330m in circumference, for example. But even there, athletes ran the 100m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m (no 200m).
Why not 1600m? Using the 4/8/16 pattern? No idea.
Every state is different. High school track, as with all interscholastic sports, is largely governed by state athletic associations. These organizations may or may not be directly associated with the respective state’s department of education, nor is there any real body coordinating between them. The NFHS writes the rule book, but they don’t tell states what events to run.
This is why some states run 300 hurdles, and others run 400 hurdles. My state runs the mile and 2 mile, but as you mentioned other states run the 1600 and 3200.
Not all tracks have the appropriate 1mi start line, I'd guess majority don't have a 2mi start line. Probably a cyclical issue. They don't have the lines because they're unnecessary, so not a common distance since not all tracks have the lines. Altogether, it's just easier to do multiples of 400m.
Waterfall start on a curve might be easier for runners than near the end of a straight away, just my opinion though. Doing alleys for full mile would again be more needed lines painted.
If a state did officially change state meet distances, they'd effectively be throwing current records in the garbage since they mean nothing anymore.
In the end, only top of the top would "benefit"
I don't know about currently but back when I was in HS, Illinois XC meets were almost always 3mi instead of 5k. No one in Illinois cared because they lived in the world of 3mi being the standard.
That’s because some states kept it at 3 miles, while others went metric to 5k. Are you saying within the same state it varies sometimes? Because that would be really weird.
>Off by less than 15m it is. Prove me wrong. I’m waiting
1609 and 3218, as some else pointed out. 18>15
extra 9m on the 1600 is like 1-1/2 seconds or something (at the end of a race).
You know they keep track of times/records out to the hundredths of second....in some cases thousandths.
>Pull up to Katy Texas ...\[something-something\]
would explain a lot about your math deficiencies.
Everyone understands people will, at times, call them the same thing when referring to the event. But you didn't go down that road.
but you specifically said
>I just don’t understand OP saying 1600 isn’t a mile and 3200 isn’t 2 miles…when they are
And then to top it all off with the less than 15m statement. If you are a distance guy/dist coach/track coach (which farther down in the thread I think that is what your are eluding to with the Katy comment ....) you should damn well know, and be able to recite off the top of your head, a mile is 1609 and the 2 mile is 3218 . And they are not the same. Furthermore the prevailing (wrong) assumption for 'commoners' or uninitiated, is that 4 laps on a metric track is a mile ...which as we all know, is not.
But then you start in with passive aggressive stuff "you are having a bad day" junk. When, you are/were clearly wrong ....
If you ask ANY professional, collegiate or High school athlete for their mile time they will give you their 1600m time. I’m sorry you had a rough day and want to prove me way wrong or make me look some type of way.
Pull up to Katy Texas and I’ll let you see my best milers on the track. 🤷🏻♂️
In VA, we ran 3 mile at some xc races and 5k at others. But the state meet was always 5k. I think 3 miles was just how some of the courses were set up a long time ago and then preferred to keep the course the same and allow for comparisons to past results/records rather than change the course and lose that historical reference.
We were used to so much variation in terrain and times between courses, it didn't feel that weird to run slightly different distances.
Long story short: in general, track events are in metric, even if they're metric approximations of the imperial distances that used to be run.
This becomes even more the case the higher level you get to — all NCAA field event measurements are in metric, for instance. And as other folks have pointed out, in international competition, they run the 1,500m and 3k instead of the 1,600m and 3,200m.
Not a serious answer: so distance runners have something to think about (ie mentally converting times and distances) on laps 5 & 6 of their 2m/3200/3000 run other than how they’re feeling. Works even better on laps 8, 12, 16, and 20 of the 10,000m. #25lapsoffun.
Races are metric now, been that way for a while if you haven't been keeping up.
100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m,
In college/World Athletics, its 1500m and 3000m. So really the 1600 and/or the "mile" is irrelevant.
At some high school meets in US, they will occasionally run a mile (1609m I believe).
They don't do that in my state. 1500m and 3000m. Some meets they'll race the mile, most tracks here have a mile start line painted.
Oregon, Hawaii and at least parts of California do the 1500m and 3000m. I don’t think any other states do. I’m clearly wrong here. I last looked at the national leader boards for middle schools early in the season. Only west coast were represented there early in the spring and I got the wrong impression. Oregon dominates the 6th-8th grade 1500 brackets, but not so in HS.
Vermont as well
RI does 15/3k too
The real question is why not have 1500 and 3k as they are raced internationally.
It’s easier to just do full laps since you’ll be able to start and finish on the same line. Many tracks don’t have the extra lines drawn for those events.
We did in the late 70s and early 80s in my state. Or at least we assumed we did because we had 440 yard (quarter mile) tracks. But I don't recall a lot of 440 tracks actually getting converted to 400m. They might have been 400m all along, who knows? Anyway... My best guess on why 1600 and 3200 were adopted is because a very large number of schools, especially small ones, don't have knowledgeable coaches. The job is often a reward for the football 🏈 or basketball coach or given to someone who never ran track but does the best they can. If you ask them to host a meet and have a 1 mile and 2 mile run, they likely won't realize that a mile is 1609+ m and won't know where to start the race and might just do 4 and 8 laps anyway. Summary - it's easier to do full laps and harder to screw up.
Maybe Illinois is different, but when I did track in 2010-13 every meet needed a registered started even small dual meets. Partly so it was an even field but also so events were run correctly.
Most tracks in our state have a mile start line
Even here in Canada most of our tracks have a mile start line
tbh I always found that odd coming from a UK perspective, like if your going metric why not do what every other country does and do the internationally recognised distances of 1500m and 3000m or just straight up go for the mile and 2 mile, I guess it's easier in the sense they all start from the same line maybe?
Not all tracks have the 1 mile (8m behind finish line) and 2 mile (16m behind finish line) markers. My HS nor my college had those markers.
*9m
Our state and nationals both run the 1 mile and 2 mile.
Why not the 1500 or 3000 should be the question. Keep it consistent thru levels. And I'm sure those females can gut out the extra 100 or 200m...never understood changing the distance of mid distance races in hs for gender.
why do they run the 1500/ 3000m instead of 1600m/3200m.
Because the world runs these distances. The mile is a novelty distance and is not run internationally.
I think the question is why the 1500 and 3000 were run in the first place, ANYWHERE. The 100, 200, 400, 800 all make sense on a 400m track. How come they added the 1500 and 3000, instead of multiples of 400, e.g. 1600 and 3200.
Actually, the way the 1500 starts makes more sense to me. Just my opinion. Athletes have the entire backstretch 100 straightaway to break to the inside. Leads to less fuckery than the curved start of the 1600, unless that's your thing.
I believe they just wanted more “round numbers”, even if it didn’t make sense in laps. Even the 5000 is 12.5 laps, but running a 4800 just sounds weird.
I’ve yet to hear/read a satisfactory answer. I do know that tracks were not always 400m. I believe the track at the first modern Olympics in 1896 was around 330m in circumference, for example. But even there, athletes ran the 100m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m (no 200m). Why not 1600m? Using the 4/8/16 pattern? No idea.
Every state is different. High school track, as with all interscholastic sports, is largely governed by state athletic associations. These organizations may or may not be directly associated with the respective state’s department of education, nor is there any real body coordinating between them. The NFHS writes the rule book, but they don’t tell states what events to run. This is why some states run 300 hurdles, and others run 400 hurdles. My state runs the mile and 2 mile, but as you mentioned other states run the 1600 and 3200.
In New York, boys run the 1600/3200 while girls run the 1500/3000. Just to mess with us.
We do the mile and 2 mile in MA
Not all tracks have the appropriate 1mi start line, I'd guess majority don't have a 2mi start line. Probably a cyclical issue. They don't have the lines because they're unnecessary, so not a common distance since not all tracks have the lines. Altogether, it's just easier to do multiples of 400m. Waterfall start on a curve might be easier for runners than near the end of a straight away, just my opinion though. Doing alleys for full mile would again be more needed lines painted. If a state did officially change state meet distances, they'd effectively be throwing current records in the garbage since they mean nothing anymore. In the end, only top of the top would "benefit" I don't know about currently but back when I was in HS, Illinois XC meets were almost always 3mi instead of 5k. No one in Illinois cared because they lived in the world of 3mi being the standard.
Or run 1500m and 3000m as those are the international distances...
I’ve kind of always wondered the same!
1600m is a mile 3200m is the 2 mile…. In Texas that’s what we run. Not sure where you’re at
1609m and 3218m are the mile/2mile
Yes…I know. The only distances that are weird is in cross country. 5k comes out to 3.1 miles Some meets is a 3 mile meet And others are 5k’s
That’s because some states kept it at 3 miles, while others went metric to 5k. Are you saying within the same state it varies sometimes? Because that would be really weird.
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1600 isn't a mile, and 3200 is not 2 miles.
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>Off by less than 15m it is. Prove me wrong. I’m waiting 1609 and 3218, as some else pointed out. 18>15 extra 9m on the 1600 is like 1-1/2 seconds or something (at the end of a race). You know they keep track of times/records out to the hundredths of second....in some cases thousandths. >Pull up to Katy Texas ...\[something-something\] would explain a lot about your math deficiencies. Everyone understands people will, at times, call them the same thing when referring to the event. But you didn't go down that road. but you specifically said >I just don’t understand OP saying 1600 isn’t a mile and 3200 isn’t 2 miles…when they are And then to top it all off with the less than 15m statement. If you are a distance guy/dist coach/track coach (which farther down in the thread I think that is what your are eluding to with the Katy comment ....) you should damn well know, and be able to recite off the top of your head, a mile is 1609 and the 2 mile is 3218 . And they are not the same. Furthermore the prevailing (wrong) assumption for 'commoners' or uninitiated, is that 4 laps on a metric track is a mile ...which as we all know, is not. But then you start in with passive aggressive stuff "you are having a bad day" junk. When, you are/were clearly wrong ....
😘
You proved yourself wrong by calling 1600m a mile. No need to wait
If you ask ANY professional, collegiate or High school athlete for their mile time they will give you their 1600m time. I’m sorry you had a rough day and want to prove me way wrong or make me look some type of way. Pull up to Katy Texas and I’ll let you see my best milers on the track. 🤷🏻♂️
In VA, we ran 3 mile at some xc races and 5k at others. But the state meet was always 5k. I think 3 miles was just how some of the courses were set up a long time ago and then preferred to keep the course the same and allow for comparisons to past results/records rather than change the course and lose that historical reference. We were used to so much variation in terrain and times between courses, it didn't feel that weird to run slightly different distances.
Oh, that makes sense then. Yeah, you wouldn’t really notice the difference between 3 miles and 5k, it’s basically the same race.
As a 300h in Texas who didn’t get to qualify for Texas relays despite being pretty solid. Yeah they should standardize everything
Long story short: in general, track events are in metric, even if they're metric approximations of the imperial distances that used to be run. This becomes even more the case the higher level you get to — all NCAA field event measurements are in metric, for instance. And as other folks have pointed out, in international competition, they run the 1,500m and 3k instead of the 1,600m and 3,200m.
They definitely run the full mile and 2 mile in my state.
Not a serious answer: so distance runners have something to think about (ie mentally converting times and distances) on laps 5 & 6 of their 2m/3200/3000 run other than how they’re feeling. Works even better on laps 8, 12, 16, and 20 of the 10,000m. #25lapsoffun.
Races are metric now, been that way for a while if you haven't been keeping up. 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m, In college/World Athletics, its 1500m and 3000m. So really the 1600 and/or the "mile" is irrelevant. At some high school meets in US, they will occasionally run a mile (1609m I believe).
1600 m is a mile, at least in the south east.. In college they switch to the 1500 which is a metric mile.