Just finding time to write about this. Did anyone but me notice the staggers for the 1000 at the Stanford GP? It looked like they started the 1000 off of the same 1-turn staggers used for the 200. If so, for a IAAF Standard track, the runner in lane 8 would have to run approximately 0.42 m extra because there is no break line correction incorporated into the 200 m staggers. The break line correction is incorporated into the staggers of races like the 800 and 4x400 where the runners start in lanes and the break for the pole during the race. The break line correction accounts for the extra distance the runner must cover traveling diagonally across the track at the break. The correction is zero for lane 1 and has a maximum value in the outermost lane. The break line correction should have been used for the 1000 since one turn was run in lanes with a break entering the home straight. The magnitude of the break line correction is equal to the amount of curvature of the break line at the location of the measure line of each lane.
It is interesting to note that the staggers for the 800 apparently correctly incorporate the break line correction. The green 800 starting staggers had white staggers behind them. These white lines are apparently used for the 200 to run the race in the opposite direction when there is a head wind on the home straight. An extra set of staggers should have been set out for the 1000 staggered the same as the staggers for the 800.
I don't know who was in lane 8 but at a 2:20 pace his time for the race was about 0.06 sec. slower than it should have been. A lot of races are won or lost by less. It certainly doesn't help record attempts, either. I'm surprised that a mistake of this type would have been made at a meet of this caliber.
-- Wayne T. Armbrust, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Computomarx" 3604 Grant Ct. Columbia MO 65203-5800 USA (573) 445-6675 (voice & FAX) http://www.Computomarx.com "I never expected to compete in the Olympics at age 30. It was just so much fun to run track..." - Mike Larrabee (1933-2003)
