?Spongier? new track easier on joints

The Fairfield High School track runners have yet to attend their first meet, but there?s already an unmistakable new spring in their steps.

A new six-lane running track at FHS?s Trojan Stadium, completed in September to replace a two-decade-old track surface, is the source of the spring.

?The kids that have trained on the old surface ? which was hard and didn?t have a lot of bounce to it ? they noticed right away what a big difference there is,? said Fairfield boys? track coach Brian Dunlap. ?It?s softer and should be better on their joints and shins. It will be a better situation for the athletes who train on it.?

The track-improvement project, which cost approximately $659,000 and was paid for from the Fairfield Community School District?s Secure and Advanced Vision for Education fund, included several improvements on and around the track. Among the improvements were the replacement of the rubber top, addition of two new asphalt layers below the rubber level, implementation of a new drainage system, repairing the bleachers and improving the landscaping around the track. Other minor improvements included the installation of new fencing and re-doing the high jump covering.

According to Dunlap, there had been a great need for the project over the past few years.

?We probably went a couple years where the track wasn?t all that safe,? he said. ?The inside wall was falling down, and the inside lane had some dips in it and areas where the track wasn?t quite level.?

And while the new track is ?spongier? than the old one, it also features wider running lanes and an extended straightaway on the track?s west side.

?It?s an area where kids can warm up or kids can practice on the hurdles,? Dunlap explained of the added straightaway. ?We have a small track as it is, so any extra space we can get is very valuable.?

The Fairfield girls? track team will be trying out the track against competition for the first time when it hosts the Fairfield Relays on April 3. The Trojan boys? first home meet, the Denny White Relays, is set for April 12.