We all know about the Boston magic that happens the the BU track, but is there a Canadian equivalent? Has anyone run on the new track in New Brunswick? Does anything compare, or are we best off shoveling the outdoor track? 
I donāt think thereās anything approximating BU in Canada-- because itās quite unique even in the US, where there are hundreds of indoor tracks. But, for flat 200s, I think Windsor is pretty fast, following its reno a couple of years ago. And while younger Quebecers may demur, we used to think the track at Centre Claude Robillard was pretty fast (lots of fast 3ks back in the day). Not many meets there anymore, however. Maybe QCers can say why.
P.S. Youāre the early frontrunner in the best RHT handle race, Miles!
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I recall the McGill indoor track being fast for 1000m-3k. Had a nice āmiddle distanceā bank.
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Iāve never thought McGill was all that fast. People always seem to run much faster a couple of weeks after the McGill meet, when they hit the US tracks (Spire and BU). But that could well be just the earlier McGill date, plus the added NCAA competition. Because there have indeed been some fast times run at McGill (CPTs solo 1500 a few years back in particular comes to mind).
Claude-Robillard is $$$ for orgs to hold meets there and the track is only semi-banked. McGill is extremly banked, which really makes it a fast one.
Another question, how banked is really banked? You ever used a protractor on it?
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Canāt tell, never used a protractor, though I believe lane 6 on the curve is higher than me (1m76) standing up flat on the inside of the bend. How much higher, I donāt know.
Itās said to be the 2nd most inclined track in Canada.
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Whatās the most inclined track?
Donāt know, just heard in the past that McGill is the 2nd most inclined.
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Lol I think Iām gonna start using that line.
āI heard ____ is the second best _____ā
āOh yeah? Whatās the best?ā
āNo idea.ā
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Ugh, Iām aware itās not super verifiable. Hard to find anything online to back it up, searching online for lists of installations in Canada doesnāt yield much.
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There is a brand new 200m flat track in Sherbrooke and Iāve heard that itās pretty fast, could be advantageous to go for the U Sports flat standards there.
The banked tracks in Montreal are good, but nothing comes close to BU. Iād say McGill is faster than the CCR though.
Also relevant, this is an article about optimal indoor track angles, one of the reasons why BU is really fast (for menās mid distance especially) : Thereās money in the bank: the physics of indoor track and āoptimalā speeds ā GB
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In addition to the slope of a banked track, the surface itself is often overlooked. There is an optimal level of bounce for energy efficiency, and there have been studies showing that some tracks are faster than others due to that:
I have no idea which tracks around the continent are constructed to be ātunedā, but I do know that the optimal track is more springy than you might expect.
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Agreed that McGill is fast, but do think that you can run as fast on some flat tracks around the country and receive the additional converted seconds from flat to banked. Windsor primarily comes to mind as the top flat track in Canada since its refurb. The fieldhouse is also temp/humidity controlled (correct me if Iām wrong). Another one (underrated IMO) is the indoor track in Halifax, with its shorter straights/longer corners and mondo surface. Also heard, if anyone from Quebec can chime in, that the ULaval indoor track is fast and consistently spits out fast times.
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