Hayward Field has its stripes back.
This past week, David Wilkins of Beynon Sports Surfaces began the process of striping the track at Hayward Field, among the many finishing touches coming this summer to one of the world's finest track and field facilities.
With a careful eye and strings stretched the length of the straightaways, Wilkins used a paint sprayer to put down the lines for each of the track’s nine lanes. He completed the loop on the curves by connecting and painting in a point-to-point process.
After the lines are complete, additional markings like lane numbers, relay lines and hurdle marks will be added to the track surface.
Beynon Sports Surfaces is also the company in charge of installing the track surface, a procedure completed in late March. In February, crews tented the oval to create stable conditions through the Eugene winter. This allowed the Beynon crew to pour the track and allow it to cure properly. Beynon Sports Surfaces was also responsible for the previous track surface at Historic Hayward Field.
The track surface at Hayward is complete! Huge thank you to the Hayward Field project team and @BeynonSports for their ongoing efforts to make this the world’s finest track facility during these complicated times. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/WJFC3OBMSg
— Robert Johnson (@Run4Ducks) March 27, 2020
As the transformation of Hayward Field continues with beams and seats in place around it, the track itself will add to its storied history that began in 1921 when it first existed as a six-lane cinder surface.
With a long-standing tradition of hosting the best the sport of track and field has to offer, Hayward Field has been the site of 16 NCAA Championships, six U.S. Olympic Trials and the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships. The world-class facility will add to those numbers with a new-look track that now expands to nine lanes for the first time at Hayward Field.
In merging design and fan experience at Hayward Field, the first row of seating around the lower bowl is situated on the track level, bringing fans closer to the action than ever before. Additionally, those seats will be less than 10 feet from the outside of lane nine.
The track will be on full display in 2021 with a competition schedule that, among other meets, includes the NCAA Championships’ return to Hayward Field and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials that will mark the seventh time the meet has been held in Eugene.
As it was prior, Hayward Field will be certified as a Class I IAAF Track Facility. In 2022, Eugene will host the World Athletics Championships (July 15-24, 2022) and Hayward Field will become the first stadium in the United States to ever host the meet.
Timeline of the Track at Hayward Field
1921
The track bordering the football field—then also at Hayward Field—was installed and included a 220-yard straightaway on the east side of the facility. The bleachers were moved from Kincaid Field where the track and field team previously competed.
1970
The first all-weather urethane surface was installed to replace the original cinder material and the track—named Stevenson Track—was widened to eight lanes. The facility was also re-designed solely for track and field; football played its last game at Hayward Field in 1966.
1988
The track was converted from 440 yards to 400 meters.
2020
As part of the Hayward Field renovation, the track was expanded to nine lanes.