History
1968 Summer Olympics at Mexico City was the first Olympic Games to use the Tartan track surface in athletics. The original tradename "Tartan" came from the manufacturer 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing), manufacturers of Scotch Tape and continuing the Scotch name tradition. Those original tracks required mercury as a catalyst, later found to be an environmental hazard. An independent company has perfected the process without mercury. There are now numerous competitors in the "all-weather track" industry. In fact, the "Tartan" tracks of the late 1960s were the second generation of all-weather track surfacing. Before that, there were several tracks constructed of rubber (usually tire shavings) and asphalt. The first recorded use of a Tartan Track surface in competition in England was a long jump at the Norman Green Sports Centre in Solihull, September 16, 1967, though there were earlier uses in the United States.
There are a few on-line directories of the locations of all-weather tracks including runtrackdir.com in the United Kingdom and trackinfo.org in the Western United States.
An original Tartan track is still in place (though horribly mistreated) at "Speed City" San Jose State University on a satellite to the campus at 10th Street and Alma.
Read more about this topic: Tartan Track
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