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Reply	Dave T says: Maybe because the Earth travels around the sun counter clockwise, when viewed from "above" (north). Civilization just happened to develop in the northern hemisphere, so maybe we have a natural preference for counter clockwise movement. OK, it's a longshot.  (no votes) Tags: unanswered, domestic science, human body.
	posted on 2008-12-13 18:22:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Tom says: from http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/histparks/ww/:The William Whitley House, also known as Sportsman's Hill, stands today as a monument to pioneer ingenuity and resourcefulness. It was the first brick home and circular racetrack built west of the Allegheny Mountains, completed in 1794 by William Whitley and his wife Esther. Dubbed the "Guardian of Wilderness Road," the house was a gathering spot for early Kentuckians, including George Rogers Clark and Daniel Boone.During the 1780s and 1790s, the Whitleys felt secure enough to build the brick home and a circular racetrack, and held race meetings each autumn. The track was unique in the nation because it was the first circular design and was built of clay instead of using turf. It is felt that the American practice of racing counter-clockwise began at this track, in response to anti-British feeling at the time. The British raced in a clockwise direction.  (no votes) Tags: unanswered, domestic science, human body.
	posted on 2008-12-16 00:06:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Anonymous says: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1001/why-are-races-always-run-in-a-counterclockwise-directionShort answer - whilst the origin of the anticlockwise bias may lie in the right-handed tendency of human beings, how and if the two are exactly related is somewhat unclear. Regardless, the present arrangement persists due to general agreement regarding the comparability of track events.However this arrangement isn't entirely concrete. During endurance track competitions, i.e. 24hr+ races, the running direction is periodically reversed in order to mitigate unidirectional strain on the competitors' joints. Also as noted above, some non-athletic, track events including certain horse races and motor sports, e.g. the 24 Hours of Le Mans, are run clockwise.  (no votes) Tags: unanswered, domestic science, human body.
	posted on 2009-01-12 12:10:00 | Report abuse

Reply	M.F.Sharp says: The simple answer is tradition (which was based on false information).In the Ancient Greek Olympics, there was no circuit to speak of and runners simply ran point-to-point. However, when the 1896 Games were held, historians falsely believed the Greeks ran counter-clockwise, and thus the running races were run counter-clockwise and have been since then.  (no votes) Tags: unanswered, domestic science, human body.
	posted on 2009-04-13 19:21:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Michael Marshall says: A race is like an unfolding drama and, as the Olympic tradition was begun by people who read from left to right, it would have been more natural for spectators to see athletes passing in the same direction. Given that dignitaries would have been sitting close to the finish line, it appears that the ancient Greek hippodrome was designed for anticlockwise racing.The convention was sustained by the Romans, but clockwise racing has had its devotees too. Races at the University of Oxford were run clockwise until 1948 and ceased even more recently at the University of Cambridge. Races at the modern Olympic games were run clockwise until 1906, when some countries complained that they had already adopted the anticlockwise convention.Mike Follows, Willenhall, West Midlands, UK  (no votes) Tags: unanswered, domestic science, human body.
	posted on 2009-07-01 17:29:43 | Report abuse

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