Why are all athletic races run anticlockwise?

Question

Why are all athletic races run anticlockwise?

Answer 1

Because your left leg is weaker than your right.

Answer 2

the peeps are fatties

Answer 3

Races (at least horseraces) are only run counterclock wise here in the states. In Europe and Aisa, they are run in both directions ( the Arc'd Triomphe in Paris has at least one right turn in it) and in most cases, the distances are somewhat longer than here in the US.

Answer 4

As far as horse races go, here in Europe we run horses on left-handed courses, right-handed courses, some are figure of eight courses and we even have one or two L-shaped courses.

A good horse should be able to keep himself balanced regardless of whether he is galloping straight, left handed or right handed.  If you've ever been to Epsom, you'll see why it is the truest test of any horse: although the track is left handed (it's actually a sort of u-shape, not circular) it also goes up and down and in the run to the finish has an adverse camber which causes unbalanced horses to drift to the rail.

The link below shows a photograph of Epsom which gives you some idea of the gradiant of the course: http://www.racingpostpix.co.uk/pictures_...

Answer 5

They used to run clockwise in England, and the tradition came over to America, until someone changed it to counterclockwise!! I hope I helped in some way!!

Answer 6

There are two answers I can think of for this one.

a) It is just convention. Someone decided to do it that way so everyone just stuck to it.

b) They knew the Earth spins in an anti-clockwise direction, so therefore if you run in an anti-clockwise direction you will be running with the spin of the Earth and not against it. It wouldn't have a major effect on the times, but as any sportsman knows, it can be miliseconds that decide the fate of a race.