I put on a summer distance running festival on our high schools track each summer. The AD of the school is more than glad to let us use the track as long as I have everyone who participates sign a waiver, so the school won't be sued. This does happen. Another local high school allowed the public to use their softball diamond and a fellow who works with me broke his ankle when his foot went into a little hole in center field...The guy sued. We almost came to blows over this, because he ruined everything for anyone wanting to use good facilities, like the high school athletic facilities. Luckily, I know the AD, and he allowed us to have our summer events and the four outdoor winter 10,000's and CC meets that I have (and boy do those get interesting)
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Grant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "track net" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 11:04 PM Subject: t-and-f: Runner's arrest > Netters: > > The arrest of the senior women's runner in Florida recalls an > amusing incident we had at a NJ meet a year and a half ago. > > It took place at Lincoln Park, Jersey City, which is, of course, not > school property, but a county park open to all comers. > > A 400M race was in progress,, in lanes, when these two middle-aged > ladies came strolling down the track in the 5th and 6th lanes. The runners > were on the backstretch at the time and, being freshman girls on a very > windy day (and it can really blow at that park, as I know so well from my > running days), were not moving that fast. So there was plenty of time to get > the ladies out of te way. > > But when officials approached them, it became plain that English was > not their first language. This was their time of day for taking a walk on > the track and nobody was going to get them off. So the runners came around > the final turn and had these formidable obstacles (and, believe me, they > were fotmidable) in their path. The result was that the race had to be run > over again later in the program. > > Most NJ HS tracks are open to the community in off hours and you > will even see joggers during school hours if the school is making no use of > the facility. There are usually signs asking "joggers" to use the outside > lanes only and not to wear spikes. > > Florida has a long history of overreaction to petty offenses (and to > no offenses at all for that matter). I still recall the time a kingergarten > student brought her Christmas cards to school to give them to her classmates > and had them confiscated in one of the more bizarre church-state cases. And > let;s not get into the state's voting problems. > > I also find it amusing that the cops were called in on this one. Not > too many years ago, here in NJ, we had a case where a local fire department > found that several of the local public schools were in violation of certain > fire codes. The board of education took the position that the fire > department (and, I presume, police department as well) had no jurisdiction > over its affairs. I guess this is another case of whose ox is being gored. > > It also recalls the time of the so-called NCAA-AAU feud. In that > affair, the NCAA told its colleges not to let the AAU use its facilities. > Its ally, the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations---a > purely public school dominated organization, even though many state > associations have non-public members---made a similar recommendation to its > consituents, a recommendation fotunately honored in most cases by being > ignored. > > Ed Grant >
