| by Will Craven On the Road
In most cases it is safer to run against traffic on the road. When we are running as a group we should all go left when someone announces "car up or back" . If some of you move left and some move right it looks like a bunch of cockroaches caught in the headlights to the approaching car and they have no clue what to do.
Sometimes as we approach a major cross street we will move to the right to avoid a car turning right into us. Listen to the coach, this is the main reason we don't want you to wear head phones.
If you need to make a pit stop, tie a shoe, or go to the bath room let a coach know, don't just drop off the back the group. Many of you don't know where we are going and if the group makes a turn it is pretty easy to get lost.
When we are on the road portion of the loop around the lake we should treat it like the any other road and run on the left side. Watch for cyclists and treat them like cars as they approach and move left.
On The Trail - White Rock or Katy Trail
On the trails run on the right side bikes and faster runners should pass on the left. We should not run more than two by two on the trail. Announce approaching runners and cyclist just like you would an approaching car
On The Track
Tracks Lanes are numbered from the inside lane. Lane 1 is the far left inside lane. When you are warming up, cooling down, or just running easy don't run in the inside lanes, lanes 4,5&6 will work just fine for this.
Never walk in lanes 1 or 2.....
When you are doing repeats, intervals, tempo or a hard effort type runs where you are timing yourself it's okay to run in lanes 1 and 2 but if you hear someone coming up behind you, move to the right and yield the inside (left) lane to the faster runner, don't make them go around you. The runner approaching a slower runner should announce "Track" which means he or she wants to pass you in Lane 1.
Don't stop abruptly in lane one or two instead as you finish your interval look over your right shoulder and move to the right as you slow down or stop.
A collision with another runner hurts, one with a cyclist hurts more, lets not even think about a car be safe and courteous. Not everyone know this stuff so be patient and try to avoid any road rage incident wherever you are running. |
