China cuts corners (and saves money) with rectangular, instead of oval, running track

Chinese sport officials saved time and money by building a rectangular, instead of oval track.

18:01 29 July 2014

Chinese sport officials have decided to build a rectangular running track because it was faster and cheaper than building a traditional oval track. The decision was made to ensure that construction was completed in time for a Communist Party inspection.

The rectangular running track is part of a major refurbishment of a 10,000 square foot stadium in Tonghe County in the north-eastern Heilongjiang province.

As the big-budget project was running behind schedule, managers decided to quite literally cut corners ahead of the inspection of notoriously finicky Communist Party officials.

Although the stadium was impressively completed on time, there is no doubt that it is one of the strangest tracks in the world as the severity of the corners slows the runner down dramatically.

There is a concern that training runners who use this track will struggle on a more traditional course. Locals who were asked to test the new running track echoed aforementioned concerns.

‘It all looks jolly good - apart from the track which doesn’t really look up to standard,' The Telegraph quoted one woman as saying.

'It is strange indeed... Normally curves speed people up but these corners slow you down. It is quite inconvenient,' added another woman.