I'd like to know what the lap distances are for each lane on a standard running track. I saw marks for a mile and other distances but didn't really look for it while I was there. Are the lane distances marked on the track?
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Measure how far apart the inner lane is from the lane you want to measure - how far ahead the outer lane starts. That is how much longer around 1 time the track it is. Just from visualizing it i'm guessing a couple yards at most per lane.– Adam HeegCommented Sep 28, 2015 at 18:43
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2 Answers
Most tracks are 400m so on the inner lane one lap would be 400m. As you go out the distance is farther
There also should be markings on the track for 100,200,300,400 and 1 mile
The formula, L = 2S + 2pi(R + (n-1)w) can be used to calculate the distances around the track for the various lanes. In this formula L equals the lane distance, S equals the length of the straightaway, R is the radius of the turn, n is the lane number and w is the width of the lane.
You can find the formula from here for each lane going out. http://www.livestrong.com/article/168904-what-is-the-distance-around-a-running-track-for-each-lane/
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1This is also why there are different start marks in each lane (at least on a marked track), each of those start marks indicates 400m from that point to the marked finish line.– JohnP ♦Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 14:37
Lane 1 of a standard track is 400 meters. As you go farther out to lanes 2 - 8, the distance increases. That's why there are different starting marks for several distances at different parts of the track.
For races in which runners stay in their lane (200m, 400m, 300 hurdles, etc.), there are starting lines in each individual lane. For races where runners break to the inside lanes, there is one waterfall starting line which curves forward so that people starting farther out run the same distance.