Rio Mesa High School
This photo is facing east. While it looks black, this is a modern AW track,
with a relatively soft surface (particularly in certain spots on the back stretch.
Curiously, the newly installed internal runways are the earthtone red common
to most tracks. While listed as Oxnard, this is located in the strawberry fields
north of town, surrounded by very little in the way of residential development.
I was busy during the meet so I'll try to get a daytime shot soon. Much of the
student body is bussed in from Camarillo some 5 miles to the east.
The recent resurface job is already worn through (I suggest it was one layer
that was far too thin). The old lane lines and other painted sections are showing
through. Note the asymetrical start lines. As explained on the main page, this
track was constructed with the track level curb being too large. As a result,
it is not 400 and it is not 440y but something weird in between. The 400 (red
lines) start is about 2.5 feet beyond the finish line. The 800 (white) start
line is in the wrong place, about four feet beyond the finish line--I say that
because the 1600 and 3200 start lines are progressively equidistant, 4x and
8x the 400 offset but the 800 is about 2 feet short of that symetricality in
lane one. I didn't measure lane 2 on out to determine if they are also off.
While the track is the wrong length, the relay zones do not progress so a 4x400,
no matter what start lines you use (there is a marked 3 turn stagger) are just
wrong in some way or another. On the good side, the new track is still under
warranty so they will get it redone soon, hopefully as a full re-do to correct
the length.