Some of the pictures have some unnatural distortion as I have blended photos
for the wide panoramic effect.
Santa Barbara High School
This photo is facing
southwest. This track has been so disrespected it is effectively useless. It
is a hard paved surface. The odd shaped stands look designed for baseball and
do not parallel the football field. But there is no sign of baseball here either.
The wide turns match the stands, leaving a very short 55 meter straightaway.
While my picture composition makes the turn look a little square, that minor
distortion does not effect the odd placement of the football field (angular
across the field.)
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There are six painted lanes on the track, there are numerous obstacles. Lane
6 is unusable because of the stairs from the stands blocking the lane in several
places--it has no calibrated start lines. Lane 5 is also blocked by the largest
set of stairs, which might possibly move out of the way. If you run on the far
outside (in the dark or if you aren't paying attention), it is even more dangerous
with this staircase to the below ground door. The calibrated start lines indicate
either imperial measurements on a metric track (odd considering its age) or
metric measurements on a short track (I haven't figured that out yet). Yet they
have only one 4x4 zone marked. I didn't take the time to calculate the length
of a lap, maybe next visit. There are few marks on the track, no long hurdles,
only a 50m or 55m version of the short hurdles. I think they would have to run
the 100m on a curve if they ran it on the track. The last time I heard they
even used this for a meet, they ran sprints and hurdles on the grass down the
football field. With 6 better tracks in the immediate area, it would be stupid
to use this one--in competition or even for practice (its just too hard).
