Distance-only meets are supposed to empty out by the last race. This one fills up instead — the stands are fuller at 10pm than they were at 7.
Part of it is the lights. Part of it is that the meet director schedules the fastest section last and tells everybody so. Mostly it is that the whole thing is built to be watched, not just run.
What other meets can steal
- Announce the fastest heat last and say it out loud in the program.
- Give the crowd something to track — a light, a rabbit, a split board.
- Keep the schedule tight enough that nobody has to guess when to come back.