As our track sessions are incredibly popular, it’s important to make sure that everyone can enjoy the sessions and keep themselves and each other safe. Collisions between runners, especially when running at pace, can cause potentially serious injuries. Therefore, here’s some rules and best practices around track use that apply at any time, but especially at busy track sessions.
- Run anti-clockwise. This means you run the bends as left handers. The exception to this is on warm-up or cool down when you may choose to run clockwise. If you do so, you must stick to the very outside of the track, making sure you are visible and be aware of other athletes running anti-clockwise.
- Run in Lane One. This is the inside lane next to the infield ‘kerb’. When running your effort in an interval session, run in Lane One unless directed by coaches on grounds of safety [e.g. flooding or ice], in which case, run in the innermost lane available. NB, this applies regardless of how quickly or slowly you think your effort pace is!
- Do not run more than two abreast. Large packs on the track can be dangerous and block other runners. If you are running in a group, the group should break into smaller segments and stagger their start times for intervals to avoid blocking other runners and taking up too many lanes for the same pace. This applies whether on an effort towards the inside or a recovery towards the outside of the track.
- Pass on the right and pass with care. Faster runners should pass other runners on the right, moving into lanes 2 and 3 as they do, giving them adequate space.
- Move to the outside on your recovery. When on a jog or walk recovery between efforts, move to the outside (preferably lanes 5&6). Be aware of other runners on efforts who will be running at pace, potentially in lanes 2&3 when passing others in Lane 1.
- Be careful when joining the track. When starting an interval, be aware of other runners training. In general, you should join from outside lanes, looking behind for runners coming up fast and waiting for a gap to start your effort/move to lane 1.
- Be careful when ending an effort. As you finish an effort, DO NOT STOP. Check over your right shoulder for faster runners about to pass and if clear, move well to the right into outside lanes to slow down. A hand signal to indicate moving out is helpful. If necessary (many runners are about to pass you as you finish your effort) it may be appropriate to step onto the infield, but extra care should be taken when doing this.
- Never stand around on the track. If you are stopped, move completely to the outside onto the grass. If you are about to start an effort, have your watch set and ready to go before stepping on for your run – do not stand still waiting to start, instead join as described above.
- Be aware and considerate of all track users. The track is a shared space, so show your club mates (and potentially other members of the public) the respect they deserves by always staying aware of the other runners. This also means no headphones so you can hear other runners coming or warning you of their presence. Listen to coaches instructions and take extra care when joining or leaving a lane or when starting or finishing an effort (do not just stop on the track!). If you are on the infield needing to get to the outside – cross the track as if it were a road – look both ways before getting on or off the track to avoid impeding other runners.
- Other track & field users. Be aware that other groups may be using the track and/or infield, so be vigilant and take direction from coaches.
One final thought is that you may hear someone shout TRACK! This generally means you’re in the way (e.g. blocking a runner’s progress by standing or walking in the inside lanes or running in too big a bunch) so you should take avoiding action. In the past, it was used by faster runners who wish to stay in Lane 1 and expect slower runners to move out of the way. We don’t advocate this use (it’s not very inclusive and a bit outdated!) but bear in mind, you may hear it in this context.