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The specific measurements of a running track are set by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Standard oval tracks can be between 72 and 400-meters. The average 400-meter track is made of two semi-circles with radius's of 36.5 meters and two parallel straights that are 84.39 meters long. Each track has a minimum of four lanes 1.22 meters wide marked with 5 centimeter lines.

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10y ago

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The track is exactly 400 meters long and is 1/4 of a mile

You mean the distance around the track. Officially that should be 400 meters, though there are exceptions made at some tracks.

A local school might build an odd distance track due to space limitations, or, particularly in the USA there are legacy imperial tracks that are 440 yards remaining. Since most meets are conducted in metric distances, in these situations you would see extra start or finish lines painted in lane one of the track to compensate.

Technically, the outside edge of the white line around the inside edge of a track should be about 399.37 meters, or the outer edge of a raised curb around the track would be 399.06 meters. The measurement rules measure the distance 20 cm or 30 cm into the track, where the center of the runner might be if they were running the shortest possible (legal) course (not stepping on or inside the line, not stepping on the curb).

The further you go away from the center of a circle, the greater the distance around the perimeter. Meaning when you move out from the line or the curb, possibly into other lanes, you are going further. Each lane thus has a staggered start line, so runners who stay in an outer lane are given a head start to compensate. All runners starting at the proper lines ultimately run the same distance.

Read more: What_is_the_exact_measurement_of_track_and_field

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12y ago
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A running track is 400 meters around. It is both halves of a full circle, with two equal straightaways between the halves. The IAAF, the world governing body, prefers "the bend" in tracks to be 36.5 meters in diameter, making the straightaways about 85.3 meters long. Multiply times the lane width (8 or 9 lanes times preferred international lane width of 1.22 meters) and you could end up with a full track width of 58.5 meters and a length of 143.8 meters. But then some tracks are built into more narrow stadiums and a few have a wider "pitch" which can affect those specific numbers in different directions, but its all math. The wider the turns the shorter the straightaways and vice versa.

Read more: What_is_the_dimension_of_a_double-bend_track

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12y ago
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Different athletic fields have different standard measurements. For example, a soccer field has a minimum of 100 yards long by 50 yards wide and a maximum of 130 yards long by 100 yards wide.

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10y ago
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Meters

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15y ago
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Q: What is the length of an athletic track?
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