Eli5 What makes a running track ‘fast’ , in caparison to a ‘normal’ track? Heard this term a few times at the World Athletic Championship in Eugene, OR
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Most of it is just the surface of the track.
Think about two things: running on concrete and running on a pillow. One of those is more forgiving on the ankles and knees (the pillow). However, it isn’t very fast. A lot of the power will be wasted because of the surface.
Concrete will be tough on your legs. It will also be significantly faster to run on, because the surface is wasting less of your effort.
Fast tracks are (as a general rule) harder than slow tracks. They may also have more grip. The reason this happens is that many tracks aren’t designed for peak performance. They’re designed for good performance across a variety of runner types. This makes them softer and easier on the legs, but also not quite as fast as possible.
It is important to note that there is a tradeoff between sprinters and distance runners. Because of the leg strain, a distance runner would prefer a slightly softer track than a sprinter. This makes some tracks (Atlanta has been mentioned in some articles I’ve read) more preferable to sprinters versus distance runners.
There have also been some improvements in the material used. A “bouncy” material will return more energy than concrete. This makes a large difference in performance.
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