You can find a very good discourse on the subject in edition No. 2 of the IAAF
Magazine for 2000 by Polly Wright.
Some highlights:
*1881 English Champs were run on a 501y track and they ran the 440 counterclockwise so
the athletes would finish on the downhill section of the course!
*Oxford alternated the two methods as late as 1948.
*1896 and 1906 Olympics were run clockwise.
As for WHY the counterclockwise, Wright couldn't come up with a definitive answer but
had some good points:
*Ancient Greeks ran that way, so the tradition stuck (even if the early modern Greeks
didn't!)
*At the end of a race, it's natural for those at the finish to follow the runners from
left to right, just as most Western writing systems use.
*Horses and greyhounds race that way.
*Military parades always go ccw when passing in review ("eyes right!")
*Literally, running "against the clock."
She also cites some biological factors:
*since most are right-handed, easier to run curves with stronger arm on the outside.
*Study of 2000 German soldiers which showed that right-side extremities averaged 1-2cm
longer.
gh
