How creative track engineering is transforming sport and spaces

A look inside Rekortan’s top five creative track projects across Europe

Every business needs a North Star. At Sport Group, ours is to transform sport and spaces. As Sport Group’s global track brand, Rekortan is part of a sport with an already colorful and innovative heritage. By bringing the biggest choice of track colors and continual innovation to the industry, we have made it our mission to attract even more kids, athletes and fans to the sport we have supported and evolved alongside for more than 50 years.

Tracks that are bright, supple and tactile captivate audiences and encourage more feet to get running. Tracks that have evolved to meet the needs of the spaces and communities they serve, can transform lives and society.

We are engineers but we are also creators. From reimagined parks to innovative spaces for schools, we share some of the most creative tracks we have engineered to revitalise communities and keep our sport and its athletes running.

Revierpark Vondervort, Oberhausen, Germany

Play Backwards: A running track and sprint lane for a ‘Park in Motion’

The Revierpark Vonderort set out to redefine play after insights surfaced that self-organised sports were growing in popularity versus traditional organised sports clubs. The renovation of this family-friendly space known as ‘Exercise Hill’ involved a Rekortan M sprint track, running circuit and miniature basketball and volleyball area in striking brick red. Also incorporating a ‘Yalp’ arena (‘Play’ spelt backwards in a nod to the integration of sport and tech), the reimagined space has revitalised the area and provided free-of-charge fun and freedom to a local community looking for a new way to move.

Vocational College, Kleve, Germany

An innovation in space and color

Home to 5,000 students clamouring for more outside sport, Kleve’s Vocational College, gave us a challenge in both space and colour to achieve. In a limited footprint, and with a differentiated color concept to deliver, we provided a four-lane Rekortan M circular track in Hertha Blue, an integrated sprint track and high jump area in Eggshell and long and triple jump tracks in bright Sky Blue. This unique sea of color has helped the college to maximise the space and achieve their mission to inspire greater participation within the school and beyond its gates.

“If you were looking down at the running track at Collège Marcel Mariotte from space, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was an F1 track. Disrupting the usual running circuit formula, it is a mixture of straights and surprising curves that optimises the use of space and gives it a playful feel.”

Collège Marcel Mariotte, Bressieux, France

Not all tracks are equal (or symmetrical)

If you were looking down at the running track at Collège Marcel Mariotte from space, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was an F1 track. Disrupting the usual running circuit formula, it is a mixture of straights and surprising curves that optimises the use of space and gives it a playful feel. The unusual running circuit branches off into five integrated sprint lanes and a long jump area – two solutions that offer maximum flexibility and versatility when it comes to the variety of sports that can be played in a limited space. With its unique design and organic lines, one thing is certain, the runners won’t get bored in Bressieux.

Sportpark Styrum, Mülheim an der Rhur, Germany

A sports park that connects the generations

Reimagined by and for a community, the Sportpark Styrum is a green and modern space with no age limit. Facilitating play across the generations, it sports an open-air hall at its heart branching out into multiple play areas. A miniature playing field was given a new lease of life through a re-topping with Rekortan M, and a 100m sprint track and long jump facility was built from scratch giving children and adults a revitalized place to play, run and socialise.

Centre Sportif du Fayet, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France

Sport at the foot of Mont Blanc

In a complete renovation of this sport centre in a thermal park in the valley below Mont Blanc, a circular outdoor running track and integrated sprint circuit provide flashes of brick red that attract runners from two neighbouring schools and the local community. An additional anthracite running track and long jump area stand out in contrast. The circular running track includes a multi-purpose playing field to round off the now modern, eco and accessible sports facility with one of the world’s most stunning mountain backdrops.