Why do people run around the a track a certain way?

I’m a track guy, yup I love running on the track. I train all fall just so that I can be in shape to rip it up on the track. Putting on the spikes and stepping on the track for the first time each year brings a smile to my face. So the other day while I was in the cop stop (someone broke into our van and stole all our running stuff) I started thinking why is it we always run the certain direction around the track. We are always turning left. You can train the other way if you feel like it but it doesn’t matter because you always race counter clock wise.

So I’ve decided to figure this answer out. The significance of the direction of running may escape the X-generation kids who have grown with digital watches, and have never seen a watch with handles. Any way, we run counter clockwise for sentimental reasons, symbolizing our race against the clock. (Ok I stole that last quote from some dudes website that was barking about how Y2K was going to kill all of us so you can believe it or not its up to you)