China Builds Right-Angled Running Track

We've heard of people trying to square the circle, but this is ridiculous.

Officials at a running track in China have come under fire after building a square running track with four right-angles, rather than the more standard - for a reason - oval-shaped track.

The work was done during the refurbishment of a stadium in Heilongjiang province's Tonghe County, and officials claimed that their original track was built with curves, but the rubber surface had worn down due to overuse.

With time short and an impending visit from senior Communist Party leaders, the decision was taken to rework the track. One official confessed, "In order to get it ready for the leaders, we painted it like that, we think it is ugly too but if the leaders don’t ask us to change it, what are we supposed to do?"

We're pretty sure even Mo Farah would struggle to get speed up having to change direction by 90 degrees every 100 metres - still, that might even it up for the rest of us.

[via Telegraph]