PING, Performance and Planet: The new Rekortan track that has everyone talking
Transforming the SA Athletics Stadium, Adelaide
The SA Athletics Stadium in Adelaide, Australia, has undergone a major redevelopment. At its heart is a brand new Rekortan Gel G13 track which will provide up to 150,000 runners a year, from grassroots athletics to the elite end of the sport, with a brand-new training and race day facility.
The new track was put through its paces by some of South Australia’s elite at The Adelaide Invitational on 11 February 2023. From athlete performance and welfare, to speed, consistency and environmental performance here’s how the track delivered.
First things first. It is fast.
Striking a balance between the force reduction needed for training and the speed required for competition, it provides energy back to the athlete in a quick response time without being so firm that it increases the risk of injury.
Oceania 4 x 100m Champion and Oregon22 World Championship 100m sprinter, Bree Masters told us;
“It feels bouncy and quick. We have seen some fast times on it.”
Fellow 100m, 200m and 400m sprinter Sienna Fillis, agreed;
“I feel like I’m not even touching the ground.”
Rekortan Gel gives you PING!
The energy return provided by the track was felt by sprinters, distance runners, hurdlers and coaches alike.
200m Australian National Champion, Aiden Murphy, captured the feeling perfectly;
“In athletics, we call it a nice ‘ping’ – meaning foot strike coming up quickly without putting too much energy in, which is what we’re after for a quick race.”
Olympic (Tokyo 2022) and Oregon22 World Championship 3000m Steeplechaser, Ben Buckingham, called it ‘pop’;
“It felt great. I ran 20 seconds quicker than last year.”
Hurdler Jacob Eddington, also felt the benefits:
“As a 400m hurdler I am on all corners of the track and it is nice and soft and responsive. I like a bit of response and bounce in my step so when I am struggling on the last 100m I can use the track’s energy to push me over the last few hurdles.”
Distance athlete coach and State Performance Advisor for South Australia, Adam Didyk, described how the ‘ping’ factor impacts both physical and mental performance;
“On race day, you’re looking for something that gives you a bit of life. An old, tired track doesn’t give you much life, much rebound, and often that impacts the mood and attitude of the athlete. Once they are confident the track is at the standard they want it to be, their performance and attitude will match that.”
A Gel for Reducing Injury
Whilst a hard track runs fast, it also runs a greater risk of injury. The sweet spot for athletes is a track that is forgiving on the body in training without losing its speed for race day.
As Olympic and Commonwealth distance runner, Izzy Batt-Doyle explains;
“This track is so great to train on because it has those properties of shock absorption but it is great to race on too. You don’t want to walk away from 10k (25 laps) feeling completely beaten up and those harder surfaces are going to do that to you.”
You don’t have to be running 25 laps to feel the same. As the sprinters explained;
“The old track we had was very hard. It was quick because of that, but it was only hard, and very temperature sensitive. This new one has that perfect combination of bounciness that we need and hardness. You need the bouncy part to train on because otherwise you get hurt.” - Aiden Murphy, Australian 200m Champion
“I pull up really sore from Mondo so I like the Rekortan track” - Bree Masters, 100m and 200m
Consistent. Lap after Lap.
For coach Adam Didyk, consistency is key;
“One of the things we were looking for in a track surface was consistency all year round.”
The gel system is more temperature stable than standard polyurethanes. This allows it to offer consistent force reduction across a wide range of temperatures from 10 degrees Celsius in winter to 35 degrees in summer.
“Ideally you have a track that’s the same whether it’s cold and raining or really hot. It feels the same underfoot. It is great to have that as a performance feature of this track.” - Izzy Batt-Doyle, Tokyo 2020 (5000m), 2022 Commonwealth Games (5000m & 10,000m)
“I pull up really sore from Mondo so I like the Rekortan track.”
1st in Environmental Performance
A track’s environmental performance is becoming just as fundamental as its performance from an athlete perspective.
As Shane Fuller, CEO Athletics, South Australia explains;
“The environmental considerations are much higher in everybody’s minds when making significant decisions and that was not lost on this project.”
Environmentally, Rekortan Gel is the most advanced system in the world. The green technology developed by our chemists is highly innovative. It is made up of 84% renewable and recycled materials. This is fast, efficient and natural.