Tyrone Curry, a janitor and a track coach in Evergreen campus High school, Seattle, has donated a huge sum of $40,000 to build a unique track and field in the school he had been working for the past 35 years. An earnest desire to build an athletic track for the young kids at the Evergreen campus in White Center that would not get muddy or hard in the summer, propelled this dedicated coach to donate this money to his boss. A coach who turned millionaire, thanks to the lottery of $3.4 million that he won five years back, have allowed him to be a facilitator in making a rubber track that will allow young students to run all through the year without any definite hassle.
This unique concept has been put to reality by Atlas Tracks, Inc, of Portland, Oregon. Made with crushed rubbers from old and unused tires, this design is one of its kinds. “Tire re-capping” process have been used for the recycled rubbers that is absolutely free from metals. The waste rubbers are collected and sent in bags to site where a group of workers would take around two weeks time to lay down the tracks.
The process would typically involve seven stages of layering. Along with this, a special gel is sprayed between each of the seven layers. The unwanted rubber bits are then removed and smoothed by hands. For the underlay, about 2 inches or more of asphalt coating is done over the old cinder track. This helps the tracks to sustain for longer period of time. The gravity settles the rubbers in the track and makes it a porous and a shiny place to run on.
The spokesperson of Atlas Track has assured that the track would be able to provide service for another 10-12 years without any major repair or re-coating. On the whole, a great contribution from Tyrone Curry in helping create a field track which is predominantly an attempt to voice his concerns of environmental issues and usage of recycled products. And at the same time help build more viable and sustainable sporting tracks for young athletes. In fact, this is a unique and novel idea which should be followed by one and all. Nonetheless, this act of philanthropy from Tyrone Curry will be remembered by many more generations to come.
via: TheHighlineTimes