Is is possible for...

[booyahumpato]

A running track to be built in advance to be directly in the path that the Earth spins so that if a race was held on the track (doesnt need to be an oval) that the runner could in fact run a faster time if they ran in the opposite direction of the Earths spin.

 

Or would factors such as gravity and other forces relative to our atmosphere make this impossible and wouldnt give the possibility of running faster.

[Klaynos]

Relative to the ground, why would running either way be faster or slower?

[spunnery]

A running track to be built in advance to be directly in the path that the Earth spins so that if a race was held on the track (doesnt need to be an oval) that the runner could in fact run a faster time if they ran in the opposite direction of the Earths spin.

 

Or would factors such as gravity and other forces relative to our atmosphere make this impossible and wouldnt give the possibility of running faster.

In any case ,the runner is having a momentum(even if he stands still)equal to that of the spin of earth.in other words,he is moving back with a velocity equal to the spin of earth.So no runner can run faster ,if he ran in opposite direction of earths spin.

if you watch the runners from space,you will see the runners running forward,but they are moving backwards,together with earth,Only their relative position with the ground below have been changed.

[John Cuthber]

You might be able to do it. Does anyone here really understand the nature of the coriolis effect? The trade winds seem to find it easier to go one way rather than the other but I don't know how much of that is driven by the sun tracking accross the sky.

If the earth were perfectly spherical it would be easier to run round the equator than down zero longitude from the north pole and then up the other side because you wouldn't have to fight the effect, but I don't think it would matter which way you ran.