In the column Why are races always run in a counterclockwise direction?, Cecil quotes Scot Morris as saying
But it seems pretty obvious to me: People who are right-handed tend to be right-footed as well. such people get more of a push from their right foot than from their left foot, and this is very conducive to running in a counterclockwise circle, where the right side of the body goes slightly farther than the left side.
Why didn’t Unca Cece pick up on this? Where’s my error?
This Cecil column also states the following:
In Britain we have 59 racecourses.
Horses race counterclockwise on 36 and clockwise on 22. This leaves Windsor, which is a figure of eight track on which both directions apply. Fontwell also has a figure of eight course but only for steeplechases. The hurdles track is counterclockwise and is included in the total of 36.
I can’t speak for the rest of Europe.
For the rest of Europe I can only speak for Hungary, where Formula One (and Moto GP) runs clockwise.
However, I always thought that the reason we ran counterclockwise at school was because our heart is more on the left side of our body (at least that’s what my PE teacher gave us as reason.)
What about the coriolis effect? You know, hurricanes spinning ccw in the Northern Hemisphere, or draining bath tub water or flushing toilets?
Isn’t there a danger of horses running into each other? Especially in steeplechase where the finish times vary widely.
Did your PE teacher ever elaborate on why, exactly, this should lead to counter-clockwise footraces? I mean, your appendix is on the right side of your body. Shouldn’t you run clockwise? (Unless you’ve had it out, of course. Then you should just give in and run the 100 meters. No turning at all!)
Dear Tenebras,
You are funny, but I guess your appendix (or mine in this case) does not affect my performance when running, unlike my heart does.
If we run ccw the centripetal force on our heart is less than on the right side of our body (or on our appendix), which is on the outer side of the circle. I guess that’s what my PE teacher was thinking although she never said it.
This theory by the way comes from the ancient Greeks. They had another theory similar to this:
back in their good old days only man were doing any racing (like the Olympics) and usually men’s left balls are bigger than the right ones, therefore running ccw would protect the bigger guys, like at car racing: “since the driver is on the left side of the car (in this country at least) driving counterclockwise provides a lot of physical advantages: drivers are shielded from the wall on banked turns”
Hope this makes sense 
Another pet theory: when races are counterclockwise, then when the racers are closest to you, they are going from left to right. Since most languages are written left to right (because it’s easier for right-handers), this seems like a more natural direction for progress.
Of course, if more people are watching from the infield than the grandstands, then my theory is blown away.
Everything from short oval racing upwards tends to be clockwise in European racing. And there’s only a couple of anticlockwise F1 circuits anywhere - the Turkish and Brazilian races were the only ones this season. Even the F1 Indianapolis circuit is clockwise.
Here is a schematic for the course at Windsor.
The starting point for the 3 mile chase is at the top right hand corner marked by a small box. The horses track left along the top of the right hand loop then cross the intersection before passing the 2m 4f start. They complete the entire left hand loop before passing the 2m start, then progress across the intersection and along the bottom of the right hand loop.
For the leaders in the race to run into a backmarker at the intersection, the latter would have to be about 4f adrift at the time. A horse will be pulled up by the rider before falling this far behind, either because there’s something wrong with it or because it is jumping so badly that continuing would be an exercise in futility.
In theory it could happen, so I’m now going to write to the racecourse executive suggesting they install traffic lights at the crossover point. 
Incidentally, the link points to a racecourse flyover video which would be instructive on this point if only it was working.
The layout at Fontwell is not dissimilar. Regrettably the racecourse flyover video doesn’t function for that track either.
Is there any correlation with countries that historically had right-side or left-side driving, before the automotive age began to push toward a uniform right-side?
Nahhhhh. Just take this as an example.
You have got to be kidding. Do you realize how little difference in “centripital force” there would be running around a typical running track if the heart muscle were on the “outside” of the curve rather than on the “inside” of the curve?? I mean, perhaps you might want to try and calculate such a thing before offering such an idea up as a serious comment. 
Please note that the heart is positioned only slightly to the left of midline…
There might be a reason you never heard your PE teacher say that. 
Clearly what we need to do is science! We need three groups of people: group one with their hearts on the left, group two with their hearts on the right, and group three with no hearts at all. Group one should be easy to collect. We can do it using personal ads on Craigslist. People are always looking for exercise partners and stuff. We can tell them if they run around the track we’ll hook them up with some no strings attached sex. (This is the real reason people look for exercise partners on Craigslist. They think they’re so clever. Scheming bastards.)
For group two we need to find evil twins. We’ll know our candidates by their malicious cackles, high contrast black and red outfits, and carefully trimmed goatees. Lady twins have jet black hair and large bosoms. And possibly are wearing garters with their stockings. This is optional.
The best part is that we can fund the whole venture with the money we get from selling the hearts of group three on the black market in China. Who wants the heart from an executed murderer when you can have a nice heart from a generous American who loves science? We can use the leftover cash to buy hats.
you’re right, I was kidding.
The person would need to run with hudreds of miles per hour in order to feel the force on their heart; but I thought this forum was for everyone to write whatever comes to their mind as long as it is about the topic or close to it (in this case ccw races)…
I’m sorry if you took my comment seriously.
Aww… crap.
What am I going to tell group three? They were so excited about science and now that we’re not going to do the experiment they’re all just lying around, too depressed even to breathe.
Don’t cancel, I wanna see the experiment!
Heartless people are easy to find on the streets of LA; but you’re right, better to ‘un-heart’ others and make money off of the organ trade (I guess that makes me a heartless one too…
But hey, this is way off topic so here is an article form Runners World:
“Just about every circular sport runs counterclockwise - horse racing, NASCAR, baseball. Why? Who knows? Though most believe it was probably an arbitrary decision and tradition that started with the chariot races at Rome’s Circus Maximus stadium in the sixth century BC, experts in biomechanics think there also may be some coincidental physiological benefits. Most people are right-leg dominant, so they use their left leg more for support. When running counterclockwise, you’ll take longer strides with your right leg-which allows for more propulsion and speed on the turns.”