Miles Heated
In Stephen Foster's Camptown Races, why was the racetrack 5 miles long? Song refers to trotters.?
According to Wikipedia, the bob-tailed nag (Flora Temple) was a Standardbred trotter - harness racing. Harness racing tracks are 1 mile. The song lyrics mention a 10 mile heat, requiring 2 circuits of the track. The Grand National steeplchase is about 4.5 miles, but requires 2 circuits of a course. RPO Library (U. Toronto) says that the 5 miles was a track from Camptown to Merryall (Pennsylvania), but that doesn't square with "round de racetrack, den repeat (line 26). " I haven't found evidence of any tracks in the mid-1850s and forward longer than about 2 miles. So, just what was this race?
I think it is just a joke. Gonna' run all night gonna' run all day is obviously hyperbole.
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