Now It's Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home.

And now for the first time in over 30 years, the Harvard track teams have a real home.

The old track facility, which was inside the Stadium, was too small and run down to accommodate large meets. So the Crimson lost the opportunity to hose the Heptagonals or any other large, important meets.

In the spring of 1982, when the stadium underwent renovations, the Harvard track team was left without any home at all. The push for a new facility began in earnest, and when funds became available, the intramural field behind the stadium was chosen as the site and construction started.

After the thinclads spent two vag-abound years to MIT and B.C. to train and compete, the track was opened in the spring of 1984, but like any new home, the new Harvard track had its share of growing pains.

Last year, the tiles that comprise the surface of the track began developing bubbles, the problems were attributed to insufficient glue and when additional adhesive was applied over the summer, the bubbles disappeared.

The design of the revolutionary million-dollar track features a resilient undersurface, which allows for a hard racing surface that won't damage runners' legs.

The Harvard track is the first outdoor facility to feature such an undersurface and members of the Harvard coaching staff consider it one of the best and fastest tracks in the world.

The only remaining negative aspect of the track is the gusty winds that plague the site. The winds not only keep the times from falling as low as they might, they also add an undesirable Arctic pect to the competitions.

Despite the bitter breezes, the thinclads are quite pleased with their new home.

"I've seen new tracks at Northeastern and Yale," senior Jim Herrberich said. "But I've never found a track I like better. I don't know if it's the fastest, but it certainly is a great training facility."