<p>They are not going to have an outdoor track if they don’t have a NCAA team to begin with. Unless you are training for T&F competitions, there’s really no reason you have to run on it. I went to grad school at Stanford which has an outdoor track and it’s never crowded. I bet most of those that I saw were on Stanford team. Most runners don’t run on it. NU probably just doesn’t think it’s wise to spend $$$ to have it and then maintain just to satisfy a small group of people who have to run on a track.</p>