I know this is an old post, but I can verify MAME has an issue with the dual run buttons. I have a real Arcade cab of "Track and Field" in my collection and a friend asked if I could build him a dedicated cabinet that also includes Hyper Sports using MAME. I did, and it does not respond like my Arcade with the dual run buttons. Just as posted, its like they cancel out. I can barely qualify in the first running event with MAME.
I was hoping to find a fix for this issue with MAME, so if anyone does figure out how to get MAME to work like the real arcade, if you could please post it here (when ever that maybe) would be great.
Unfortunately, I do not have an answer for my buddy now that we build a cab just for this. I will load up the beta version ROM game posted above as a work around for now.
BTW, there were 2 produced versions of "Track and Field". One with buttons and another with track balls. The track ball version always pinched my hands between the ball and the cabinet back in the day, so I had to go with the button version when buying one for my collection.