Asotin Might Get a Real Track!

Coaches Lopez and Peters have been working with several providers, along with Poe Asphalt about installing a regulation track at the football field.

For those who are not aware of it - wait, let's back up.

Asotin has a track, kinda. It's a ring around the football field and gravel, 5/8's minus crushed basalt. Said basalt is not evenly spread and well compacted. It is loose, uneven as heck, with an abundance of unexpected divots hidden below the loose gravel. It's a challenge to run on it without twisting an ankle - and that's from a surefooted trailrunner. The high school kids, training to run at speed, are in danger of injury that can wipe out an entire season or career.

It is a measured oval. I know because I've measured it - four times with two different wheels. The average is 1262 feet per lap.

Math lesson. 1 mile = 1760 yards = 5280 feet. Divide the feet by four and you get 1320 feet.

Obviously not an imperial track. Maybe metric?

Uh, well, no.

1 Meter = 3.2808 feet, so 400m (a standard track circumference) should be about 1312 feet.

My guess is that I was the first person to actually measure the track. It was an afterthought on the part of the folks installing the football field. Someone said, "Hey, shouldn't there be a track around the field?" and the next guy said, "Sure, let's lay down the extra gravel around the outside." Viola', a track. Kinda.

The new track, as proposed, will actually have something resembling an actual track distance. The early reports are that it will be a six lane track which is sufficient to host small meets. The slightly smaller lane count allows the track contractors to utilize the existing footprint for the new track which substantially reduces the associated costs.

Asotin has a healthy number of runners but running participation drops off in winter when the trial along the river gets icy. Due to the overhanging cliffs, some of those areas stay slick for extended periods and makes running along the river hazardous.

 Providing the entire community with a decent all weather track would be a boon to the whole town - and long overdue.

Looking forward to the next series of meetings on the subject.