Flat Track Conversions For Indoor Track and Field

College Track and Field

Indoor Track Conversion - By Willy Wood

Are you wondering how your times stack up compared to performance on other indoor tracks? The NCAA has a conversion chart based on years of data collection to create a more equitable look at performance. The configuration of an outdoor track and field running facility has been standardized in the size (overall circumference) of the oval for a long time, with very little departure from this standard. While there is a standard for the size of an indoor track and field running facility, many indoor running facilities were designed to fit into existing buildings; therefore, there are many variations of sizes for indoor track facilities. Varying facility configurations produces inequalities in performances, which affects the goal of valid comparisons among event performances. These inequalities are the reason why conversion differentials, dependent on facility configuration, were developed for qualifying standards. The NCAA converts all times produced on a flat track to a banked track equivalent to ensure fairness.

See below an estimated conversion chart that will allow you to covert your time on a flat track to the equivalent banked track performance.

200m – subtract 0.4 seconds

400m – subtract 0.8 seconds

800m – subtract 1.7 seconds

Mile – subtract 3.3 seconds

2 Mile – subtract 7 seconds

4 x 400m – subtract 4 seconds

If you run on a track that is less than 200m the conversion is even greater.