No Bannister didn't run clockwise in his sub-4:00. But I think that
Oxford's team had a tradition of running clockwise.
On Sat, 7 Apr 2001, Oleg Shpyrko wrote:
>
> > Didn't they run clockwise at Oxford during Bannister's day?
>
> I don't think so. At least the picture of Bannister breaking the tape showed
> him running left-to-right, not right-to-left. But I was told that ancient
> drawings of greek Olympics showed they ran in both directions.
>
> Here's an old post to this list giving a few possible reasons for
> counter-clock direction:
>
> http://wso.williams.edu/listserv/tfselect/Aug1598-Sep198/msg00472.html
> (see text below).
>
> Frankly, I don't think Coriolis effect is significant enough to explain
> this.
> I could believe right-handed (and right-legged) explanation, though. When
> people get lost in the woods they circle counter-clockwise due to the right
> leg being slightly stronger than left leg. So counter-clockwise direction
> could be a little more natural to most humans.
> Oleg.
>
>
> On Thu, 27 Aug 1998 14:08:25 -0400, you wrote:
>
> >AFAIK, track races have always been run in the counterclockwise direction.
> >Does anyone know the reason for this, historical or otherwise? (I posted
> >this question on the internet newsgroup rec.running. So far, the only
> response
> >comes from Steven Isham, who speculates (facetiously) that it is due
> >to the fact that runners race "against the clock.")
> >
> >************************************************************************
> >Terry R. McConnell Mathematics/304B Carnegie/Syracuse, N.Y. 13244-1150
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://barnyard.syr.edu/~tmc
> >************************************************************************
>
> This question came up on this list a couple of years ago, and as I
> recall, there were various answers offered, including these:
>
> 1. It was the direction the ancient Greeks did it, and we've stuck
> with tradition.
> 2. When running around a curve, the arm on the inside of the curve
> must swing less than the arm on the outside of the curve. Therefore,
> it helps to have a stronger right arm if you run around curves
> counter-clockwise. Since there are more right-handed people in the world
> than left-handed, running counter-clockwise caters to the natural
> strength of the majority of people.
> 3. Goes naturally with the coreolis effect- the direction water swirls
> when it drains being the usual indicator. But that means that in the
> southern hemisphere, they should be running clockwise :-).
> Of course, our Australian friends claimed that THEY are the ones who
> are consistent with the coreolis effect, and it's us northern hemispherers
> who should be running clockwise around a track.
> 4. When looking at runners sprinting down the homestretch from left
> to right (to arrive at a finish line which nobody wants at the end
> of a curve), it is more natural for spectators to want to see people
> running from left to right, just like most Western nations read their
> written language from the beginning to the end of a row of words.
> 5. The horses on carousels always go counter-clockwise, for the same
> reason (a bit of trivia I never knew).
> 6. Horse races (at least in the U.S.) are always counter-clockwise.
> 7. Same for dog races (i.e. greyhounds).
> 8. Military parades always go counter-clockwise when they 'pass in
> review' (centuries-old tradition). That's where the command 'eyes
> right!' comes from.
>
> 9. And last, but not least,:
> the IAAF rulebook says that is the direction races must be run.
>
> These are the ones I remember (some real laughers), but I think there
> were others, too.
>
> R.T.
>
>
>
>
>
*******************************
Paul Talbot
Department of Geography/
Institute of Behavioral Science
University of Colorado, Boulder
Boulder CO 80309-0260
(303) 492-3248
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
