Wait, there's also this - if a synthetic track accounts for 1 sec/lap then we should see some pretty big jumps in all the world records in the 60's 70's. There should be an immediate 1 second jump in the 400, 2 seconds in the 800, 4 seconds in 1500 & mile, 12.5 seconds in the 5k, 25 seconds in the 10k. So did those jumps actually happen due to the new faster surfaces?
Obviously this is challenging exercise when you don't know what types of surfaces these were run on. But let's try:
400 meters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_400_metres_world_record_progression
This one is tough because Lee Evans 43.86 was at altitude...still, let's ignore Evan's mark and go back one. Larry James 44.19 - shoot, also at altitude. How about Tommy Smith's 44.5 in San Jose. This link suggests that mark was run on a non-synthetic track:
http://speedendurance.com/2007/07/20/440-yard-and-400-meter-racing-facts-and-figures/
OK, so if Smith ran 44.5 on a dirt track in 1967, as soon as synthetic tracks become prominent we should see someone pop a 43.5. Except no one even runs faster than 43.86 until 1988 - 21 years later. Where is the immediate 1 second difference?
800 meters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/800_metres_world_record_progression
Let's see - we know that Wottle's 1:44.3 in Eugene in 1972 was on synthetic (from the Hayward Field wiki page). Doubell's WR was at altitude. Ah - Peter Snell's 1:44.3 on grass in 1962. So people should be running 1:42.3 pretty soon thereafter, right? I mean, the 1972 and 1976 games were on synthetic surfaces. You have the great Alberto Juantorena in his prime. But nope, Juantorena never goes more than a second faster than Snell despite the difference in surfaces, we have to wait until Coe in 1979 to see that 1:42.33. Where was the immediate 2 second drop in the WR?
1500 meters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
Bayi's record was at the 1974 Commonwealth Games, which was on a synthetic track. So we'll assume Ryun's 3:33.1 was the last run on non-synthetic. We should see an immediate 3.75 second reduction in the WR - someone should run 3:29.4, right? But that doesn't happen for 18 more years when Aouita does it. No Walker, Coe, Ovett, Cram, Maree, or Bayi can do it. Where was the immediate 3.75 second drop in the WR?
Mile - same thing. Ryun ran 3:51 on dirt in 1967, but we don't see a 3:47 for another 14 years. There should have been an immediate drop to that level.
5k & 10k - I imagine we'd see the same trend but this has already been time consuming enough.
You get the picture? Your 1 sec/lap rule of thumb is bogus.