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440 Yard and 400 Meter Racing - Facts and Figures

July 20, 2007 by Jimson Lee

I am going to put a few arguments to rest.

When did they stop running the 440 yard dash?
In 1976, almost all Imperial (English) distances were abolished for track record purposes. The only exception was the Mile run because of its tradition and popularity. The mile (or 1609 meters) starting line is 9 meters back from a 400 meter track.

UPDATE: The NCAA is proposing some amendments to the 2007 Rules Book that would reject the metric system in favor of the imperial system. Read the article here on The Finish Line Pundit Blog.

POP QUIZ: Who holds the current 440 yard world record?

Which is longer, 400 meters ot 440 yards?
The 400 meters is shorter than the 440 yards. Since 1 meter = 1.093 yards or 1 yard = 0.9144 meters:

    400 meter dash = 437.2 yards
    440 yard dash = 402.336 meters

You can however, set up 2 timing systems in a 440 yard dash, with the shorter distance for 400 meters. Tommie Smith did that in 1967 with a 44.5 400 meters and 44.8 for 440 yards, as seen with the 2 finish line tapes in the photo below:

tsmith1.jpg


Converting 440 yard dash to a 400 meter dash
To convert a 440 yard dash to a 400 meter dash, subtract 0.3 seconds.

In the above example, Tommie Smith’s 440 yard time is 44.8. That is equivalent to a 44.5, the exact time he ran en route to the 440 yard dash. Imagine that time with today’s faster synthetic tracks!

Converting 400 meters from hand time to FAT (fully automatic timing)
To convert a 400 meters hand time to FAT, add 0.14 seconds.
i.e. a 49.9HT is equivalent to 50.04FAT

This is different than converting hand times 100 meters and 200 meters to FAT, where you add 0.24 seconds. a 10.0HT is 10.24FAT

The reason is your distance to the starting gun smoke (not sound!) is relatively closer to you from the finish line, than the 100 meter or 200 meter starting gun.

POP QUIZ ANSWER: In 1971 John Smith clocked 44.5 seconds in the 440 yard dash as a member of the UCLA track team. This is equivalent to a 44.2 400 meters.

A Book Review

World History of the One Lap Race 1850-2005 by Roberto Quercetani.

This book covers both Men’s and Women’s 400m and 4 x 400m relay, from Robert Philpot’s 49.5 in 1871, to Michael Johnson’s 43.18 in 1999, up to Jeremy Wariner’s 2004 Olympic victory.

Notice how the title is called “one lap race” instead of the 400 or 440!

A must read for any quarter-miler!

Complete Speed Training

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Written by Jimson Lee · Filed Under 400 meters, Book Reviews, Promotions, Track and Field 

Comments

14 Responses to “440 Yard and 400 Meter Racing - Facts and Figures”

  1. HSI John Smith: We are literally trying to stop time | Speedendurance.com on August 14th, 2007 6:10 am

    […] Smith, 49, was once a renowned world-class runner. In 1971, as a member of the UCLA track team, he clocked 44.5 seconds in the 440-yard dash, setting a world record. More recently, in 1996, he cofounded HSI, an Irvine, California-based sports […]

  2. Track Conversions for 50m, 60m, 200m, 300m, 400m | SpeedEndurance.com on January 23rd, 2008 12:37 pm

    […] I already posted an in depth look at the differences between a 400 meter and a 440 yard […]

  3. Harold Tagini on February 26th, 2008 7:22 pm

    I want to know more about 400m athletics timeing from

  4. 400 Meters: Can you Drop from 45 to 43 in One Year? | SpeedEndurance.com on March 19th, 2008 12:57 am

    […] 1967, Lee Evans ran a 44.9 hand time (equivalent to a 45.04 FAT) behind Tommie Smith’s 400 meter World Record of 44.5, then ran 43.86 in Mexico City in […]

  5. Photo Finish: How to Read a Finish Line Photo | SpeedEndurance.com on June 9th, 2008 12:08 am

    […] electronic time! Who can blame them? Gone are the days of hand times at major track meets, and converting HT to FAT, but they still exist at smaller low key All-Comers meets. This article is by far the best […]

  6. Track Dimensions: How Many Feet is 400 meters? | SpeedEndurance.com on July 28th, 2008 6:30 am

    […] meters. You can read a lot more on 440 Yard and 400 Meters Races from an earlier blog post where Tommie Smith ran 44.5 400 meters and 44.8 for 440 yards in the same race. I am reflecting on my last race at WMA 2007 where I ran the 200 meters in lane […]

  7. Asafa Powell or Bob Hayes - World’s Fastest 100 meters? | SpeedEndurance.com on October 10th, 2008 12:05 am

    […] Bob Hayes 8.5 second 4×100 meter anchor relay leg at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. If you convert that split to a FAT, that translates to 8.74 seconds. Of course, Bob Hayes won the open 100 meter earlier, and his […]

  8. DoubleD on April 1st, 2009 11:46 am

    I ran the quarter mile in high school my time was 49.8 and it was the school record at the time. In 1993 someone ran the 400 meters in 49.5. Could you please tell me what the proper conversion would be use my above 440 yard dash time to the 400 meters and possibly convert the 49.5 meters to a 440 yard dash time. I understand Track and Field News uses a book table to convert times but I have not been able to find one

    So my 49.8 was the school record until 1993 and for a while they even converted my quarter mile time to 49.5 in meters, but when someone ran the 49.5 in 1993 they erased all my times as irrelevant. Doesn’t hardly seem fair.

  9. Jimson Lee on April 1st, 2009 11:58 am

    @DoubleD - as stated in the article, the conversion is 0.3 seconds.

    Thus, your 49.8 440yd = 49.5 400m
    The other chap’s 49.5 400m = 49.8 440yd.

    Both your times should be listed as the school record (yours with an asterick).

  10. DoubleD on April 1st, 2009 12:31 pm

    Thank you so much for your quick response.

    I’ve been toiling with how to approach the Athletic Director. I hadn’t realize the record been removed all these years until a recent visit back to the school.

    Listing my record with an asterick seems to be very appropriate and fair and it by no means tarnishes the 400 meters run in 1993

  11. Jimson Lee on April 1st, 2009 12:40 pm

    @DoubleD - you can always print this article, or send him the URL.

  12. DoubleD on April 4th, 2009 1:49 pm

    Because my 440 yard dash was hand timed. Would I have to add 0.14 second to convert to FAT time.

    As a result my 49.8 would really be 49.94
    and my 400 meter conversion would be a 49.64

    And that would result in Tommy Smith would have run a 44.64 sec 400 meter.
    Thanks so much.

  13. DoubleD on April 4th, 2009 2:34 pm

    Ive done some more research and it appears my time does hold as the following:

    49.8y = 49.5′m, nothing more. In a list it would come after 49.64m and before 49.65m

  14. 40 Yard Dash Times for Usain Bolt and Ben Johnson | SpeedEndurance.com on August 6th, 2009 11:53 pm

    […] finally, what if you subtracted 0.24 from their FAT time to downward convert it to a hand […]

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