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Mad Track!

Submitted by philippe on 1. July 2009 - 11:05.
Hello everyone! Last night, we found that our track in Siu Sai Wan was closed for renovations so we decided to check out the beautiful new track in Tseung Kwan O. I must say it is very impressive. It is big, modern, clean and the green track is actually very nice and soft. The changing rooms are spacious and clean and the lockers were free. We just had to ask for one. Also, we didn't need to show our HKAAA card. We felt it was very welcoming in deed. To our surprise, we found that the two inside lanes had been neatly cordoned off with a plastic chain (the same you would get for a vip area!)and then we heard the pre recorded announcement stating that the inside lane was reserved for jogging, whatever that means. In truth it was deserted and everybody else, mothers, children and nannies were walking or jogging in the other lanes and more specifically lane 3 and 4. We had planned to do 20X300 so we decided to use the inside lane to avoid collisions and potentially serious accidents. After the first two laps, a small army of uniformed staff told us to get out. I must say I protested a lot and started arguing that it was a safety concern. Not knowing what to do with me, they pointed me to the office were I had the opportunity to meet with the manager on duty. He was a very nice man who told me he understood my concern but he told me he has received instructions and could not change them. He invited me to leave my details and said he would help moving walkers from lane 3. I rejoined the session and had to shout a lot and in some instances, nudge walkers. I was forced to be a lot ruder than I ever intended to do but unfortunately, not much happened with kids still jogging with their parents and helpers in lane 3. There were some close calls. It was a great experience but it could have gone seriously wrong. What would have happened if I had collided with a 5 year old kid at 20km/h??? One thing is certain, there's an accident waiting to happen. Unbelievably it sees the inside lanes are often reserved for jogger which doesn't make sense to me. What happened to common sense?? I can't believe the people designing the rules have ever run or done a track session. It would be so easy to say lane 1 and 2 fast, 3 and 4 medium and the rest jog or walk if you must!! Does anyone understand this?? Philippe
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by keithchan on 1. July 2009 - 12:46.
Hi philippe That has become a new-found playground for nearby residents (this may as well reflect the lack of recreational facilities in the area especially in the evening). See also comments on this thread: http://www.hkrunners.com/node/2518#comment-16932 I think they see the openning of the sports ground is for recreational purpose and not for athletic training, so maybe instead of waiting them to change that mindset/rules, better move to Kowloon Bay or Hammer Hill, where people are still able to some fast running in the evenings. Hammer Hill is good in the comming few weeks as the soccer field is under maintenance, so people can use all the lanes and don't need to watch out for a flying football.
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by LOK Fung Wai on 1. July 2009 - 18:15.
Dear Philippe, I really share your views. I live at Tseung Kwan O and have waited for a long time for the opening of Tsueng Kwan O Sports Ground so that I could do weekly practice of pacing here. However, the venue management does not perform his job well and so I still have to do the interval pacing at Kowloon Bay Sports Ground. I don't mind the family and children to walk in the sports ground, but I think the venue managemeent should deploy the security guards to direct them to walk at lanes 6 to 8 so that those who want to run fast can use the lanes 1 and 2 and those who run slowly at lanes 3 to 5. I am sure that after 2 or 3 months most of the users will follow this pattern.
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by philippe on 1. July 2009 - 18:32.
Thanks Keith and Lok Fung Wai for your feedback. I am certainly not against recreational runners and even walkers. After all, these facilities are for everyone but what annoys me is that these rules are dangerous and spoil everybody's fun. Also, it would be so simple to accomodate everyone. It would take me 5 minutes to sort everyone out with clear and logical guidelines. Instead, we have silly rules partially enforced that make running and walking hazardous. What's more, it could be a real source of tension and resentments which is the opposite of what the sport really stands for. What a pity!! Philippe
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Re: Management Problems

Submitted by speeto on 1. July 2009 - 21:50.
I'd suggest that a letter be faxed (not emailed) directly to Thomas Chow, Director of LCSD, hinting that it will reflect badly on HK if officials or athletes of countries that will participate in the East Asian Games come here anonymously to do a pre-game recon and witness the messy situation. Would that work? We won't know until we've tried. In years past I took this route to make the then lady director aware of other minor complaints and got positive results within a week.
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by Richy on 1. July 2009 - 22:09.
HK gov departments act on complaints. So I agree with Speeto, writing a letter to the departments concerned to complain.
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by speeto on 2. July 2009 - 10:12.
A second thought - All one has to do is to direct the LCSD director to this page and he can read it all. :)
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by PeterH on 2. July 2009 - 11:51.
It was funny, the management insisted that we move our water bottles from the inside field area where we had them to take a quick drink before the next rep. We were told "citizens" would complain as it looked messy :-)) -- curious logic that using the athletics track for athletics practice would be seen as messy, its obviously far better to keep the track tidy for the wandering citizens. Ah well I guess we are all tax payers. The other curious thing was the silence -- probably the new track absorbs the noise more than at other tracks but watching 250 + people walking around the track in virtual silence was a like a scene from The Return of the Dead ..... very funny indeed.:-).
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by Monster on 4. July 2009 - 13:02.
Ya, surely we've to voice out to the higher management for the concern. There is just no use to argue with the venue staff as their mindsets have sticked firmly to follow rules but not common sense. And people who are not serious runners also don't quite understand the purposes and uses of different lanes. In some cases they simply walk side by side on lane 1 or 2 >.< So, act and mail/email/fax our concerns and suggestions to their boss ~~~ :)
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Re: Mad Track!

Submitted by ai naku on 10. July 2009 - 0:46.
What would have happened if I had collided with a 5 year old kid at 20km/h? Philippe, you would have been seriously injured! But, come on, how may 5yr olds are running 20kmh?
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