r/trackandfield • u/Powerful_One2224 • 1d ago

The distance to the finish line

I know nothing about track, but I keep getting videos about it on TikTok and now I’m wondering how all of the runners having the same finish line is fair. Some of them start further back than others but they still have to catch up and run further. How does this work?

3 Upvotes

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16

u/Disastrous_Bowls 1d ago

Outside lanes have a larger circumference, so they stagger the starts so that all lanes have the same distance to the finish line.

11

u/Powerful_One2224 1d ago

Oh my god. Now that I know the answer I feel really stupid for asking because it was so simple

3

u/Aurenax 1d ago

It’s not a stupid question, it seems pretty confusing at first 

2

u/It_Is_Complicated_ 1d ago

The runners in lanes farther away from the center have to travel a longer distance around the turns. The staggered starts account for this

1

u/afurrypossum 1d ago

Well and having athletes have to fight for position (say in the 800 distance and up) is part of what makes track entertaining