Track and field has been a source of consistency in my life since I began running as a high schooler in 2014. A standard 400-meter track (about a quarter of a mile in length) is beautifully ubiquitous: You can log workouts and races anywhere in the world and still be able to compare your efforts.
Even if you don’t have ambitions of racing around the oval, it’s still an ideal spot to knock out a speed workout or complete a session that you want to be able to replicate later in your training cycle.
Unfortunately, tracks can be difficult to find or get access to. But by following these steps, you can be ticking off laps in no time.
Know Your Options
There are three types of tracks commonly found in the United States.
- Grade school / K-12 tracks: By far the most common option. They’ll sometimes have public hours, but usually not if they belong to a private institution. Beware that some of these are made of grass or dirt instead of rubber and might not be the standard 400 meters.
- College or university tracks: Generally in nicer condition (and are almost always regulation size) but difficult to access if you’re not affiliated with the college.
- Public tracks: Found at city or regional parks and are often meeting spots for local track clubs or schools that don’t have a track facility on site. They’re the most accessible, but you might have to fight for a lane.
Select Your Target
Check online to see if your area has any publicly accessible tracks with all-comers hours.
Here are some good starting points.
- Facebook running groups often have information about group runs that meet at tracks.
- Call your local running store to scope out the scene.
- The website RUN:TRACK:RUN has a searchable database of tracks, but it’s not always up to date.
- You can fill in gaps by browsing Reddit threads in your city’s subreddit, or perusing running message boards (like LetsRun).
- Check the schedules of local track teams to see where they host their home meets, or if they travel to any nearby schools for competitions.
- Contact a school’s facilities department or sports leadership and ask if you can have access.
If you still don’t have any prospects, dig a little deeper. Pull up Google Maps and start browsing the land around a local school’s campus. Satellite view is your friend—look out for colorful ovals around football fields. (Bonus points: Practice your track-spotting skills the next time you’re on an airplane).
Choose the Right Time
You should never use a school’s track while students are in class, or while a team is using it for practice or a meet. Track and field is a spring sport in the U.S., so you might be able to dodge practice by hitting the track in the fall or during summer or winter breaks.
If another sport is using the infield, don’t intrude; you want to be respectful (and taking a field hockey ball to the ankle hurts, I promise). My motto is “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” but if someone approaches me and asks me to leave, I always yield my time. And avoid logging laps when it’s dark—public tracks are often open only from dawn until dusk.
Obey the Rules
At the track, adopt the same mindset you’d have if you were camping in the woods—leave no trace. Don’t rearrange the hurdles or benches that might be set up on the track, don’t build sandcastles in the jump pits, and, of course, don’t leave anything behind. Are you sure you remembered your water bottle?
Make sure you brush up on track courtesy before starting your workout. Once you finally get going, you’ll want to run in a counterclockwise direction. Faster runners get priority of the inside lanes, while walkers should use the outside lanes. And always look over your shoulder when crossing the track so you don’t get trampled by another runner or clipped by a runaway discus.
Theo Kahler is the news editor for Runner’s World. He is a former all-conference collegiate runner who’s based in Easton, PA. Previously, he worked as the newsletters editor at Runner's World, Bicycling, and Popular Mechanics.