English Abstract

All Weather Running Track

Kenji SEI
Hasegawa Sports Facilities Co., Ltd. , Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,(2010),83(5),125-132 General Review in Japanese

 

An all weather running track is the common term to describe a rubberized artificial running surface for the sport of track and field athletics.  In this article, history, structure-property relationship, and recent progress of the surface material in the all weather running track were reviewed. The first all weather running track was developed in the middle of 1960’s under the trade name of “Tartan tracks”, and in 1967, it was installed in Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.  Though several coliseum introduced such tracks, it was turned to be clear that the durability of the surface material was not high enough against the Japanese weather.  Since then new surface materials composed of mainly polyurethane has been developed.  In these days, inner structure of the truck as well as surface materials were chosen to contribute to the safety and amenity for the athletes and to the new records.

 

Keywords: All Weather Running Track, Polyurethane