Sunday, May 9, 2010

Frustrated

I have checked the official results page and still have not seen my time. I emailed the race director and he said I finished 34:55 with bib number 922. BUT bib number 496 who finished at 34:41 finished at least 15 people behind me. I am frustrated with the way this race was set up and timed. From start line to finish line I say I finished at 31:50. I do not believe I will run in this race again next year.

3 comments:

  1. Shep, was this a chip race? You have to realize that your race actually starts at the gun/horn, even though it may take you several minutes to actually get up to the starting line.

    I usually start back in the pack about midway, and lose an entire minute just getting to the starting line.

    I use a stopwatch to get my 'actual run time', as you apparently did. Usually races here have a big digital timer at the end that tells you the 'race time' you get recorded.

    For chip races, you put a RFID chip on your shoelaces and your signal is recorded as you pass the finish (note, not the start).

    For NON-chip races, you fill out a card they had you with your bib number, age, name. The card they hand you has a sequence# on it, and you are recorded based on someone writing down the clock for each gender runner passing the finish. (or maybe there's an electric eye?)

    Odd that you'd know bib 496's time, unless it was a buddy. If so there was obviously some confusion during race recording...

    But the big difference, the 4 minutes, may have been because of the race start vs where you cross the startline. If you start in the back of the pack, with the walkers, and there are several thousand racers, a difference of 5 minutes is not too surprising, especially if runners are spread long and thin and packed tight together.

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  2. Oh, another note - if you wrote your bib# down, your friend may have written his number illegibly (or you may have) causing a mis-entry.

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  3. It was a chip race. I knew 496 just from looking back at the pictures on the website of the race results. I emailed the race director and he said they may consider an electric sensor at the beginning of the race so your time will start at the start line, but it would cost a little more.

    I just want to get my time down while having fun. It is frustrating, but not a big feal at all.

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