It is more of a hazard for lapped runners to move out of their lane. Otherwise: 1. The runner may or may not hear that he is about to be lapped. 2. the runner lapping him doesn't know if he knows and consequently doesn't know which lane to use. 3. If the ruuner being lapped moves out, he may pick off a third runner coming around both on the outside. When they are lined up at the start, we always instruct the runners that if they are being lapped, they should stay as close to the inside of lane one as possible. That way, there are fewer unpleasant surprises during the race. It is better to have heats or races set up so that there is no lapping, but sometimes is is unavoidable (especially indoors). In terms of history, I remember that during the early 60's in the National AAU Indoor championships, lapped runners were required to drop out until there were only as many left as there were medals. Pat Palmer
