Forums >Racing>Gun time or Chip time
Now that was a bath...
It's a race, not a time trial. Racers places are determined by finish order. Time is actually irrelevant to the ranking of competitors in the race. If you expect to be competitive you are allowed and encouraged to line up near the front.
I suggest running some smaller races if this is a big deal to you. They are less expensive, have fewer logistical hassles and are often more fun. Most of the races I run don't use chip timing because they have fewer than 200 runners. I'll run a couple races a year big enough to need chip timing but I'll run lots of races that aren't.
All age group awards will be determined by chip time, but in accordance with USATF rules, all prize money awards and age group records will be determined by gun time.
Most of the dissension has had to do with skewed age-group results, such as at the 10-miler in Maryland, in which a woman finishing behind who was thought to be the first master had a faster net time. Most races using the Chip have based open awards on gun time, but age-group awards on net time. This policy, some claim, quashes the spirit of competition.
E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com -----------------------------
Good Bad & The Monkey
(nice run, btw)
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
it does matter to me if I am placed 34th instead of 32nd - or 12th instead of 11th.
I don't think that my place being correct is any less important than if I was ranked 3rd instead of 1st
Runners run
I run so fast that I win the race according to chip times. Only thing is, by the time I cross the finish line, the elites have finished, the medals have been awarded, and they've all gone home. What on earth does the RD do?! Their famous star athlete who was paid to run the race was awarded the medal for crossing the line first, but the official times show he was well beaten by an unknown pleb!! OK so I know it's never going to happen....but it's the kind of "what if" question that my mind likes to dream up when i'm bored.....!
Most race directors main goal is keep the runners happy and coming back to their event.
Since you're fantasizing, why not give it a movie ending and just beat the front-runners even though they got a head start?
Now that would be a funny film ... Ben Stiller stars as the unlikely hero! Chariots of Fire meets Dodgeball!
Overall - Gun - Pace - Chip - Name - Gender #- Age Group #... 620 1:47:15.8 5:06 1:46:48.4 SPERANO, PATRICK 533/1056 195/381 Men 30-39 656 1:48:07.8 5:08 1:45:59.6 BEIROUTI, RONALD 560/1056 204/381 Men 30-39
Here's what I mean above. A HM I ran last year. I ended up 36 places after this other guy and ran the race almost a minute faster according to chip time. I also took a big hit in terms of ranking for the other rankings. Weird, I think.
How To Run a Marathon: Step 1 - start running. There is no Step 2.