RunningAHEAD - Topic: Official Time versus Garmin Time

KathyRunning

posted: 5/18/2008 at 10:02 PM

Which one do you use? I recently ran a 5k that was not chip timed. I used my Garmin to record my time from starting line to finish line. I know it took me several seconds to cross the starting line. So, when recording a PR, or just recording in general, do you use the official time or your watch time? The difference in this case was 29:24 versus my watch which was 29:10. I know it isn't a big difference, but it makes a big difference to me! Smile

http://www.runningnotes.net

AKTrail

posted: 5/19/2008 at 4:49 AM

Your official time is what it is, and what's used for any qualifiers or whatever. For your own use / records you can use your watch time. Or you can just run smaller races where there's essentially no difference in time from "go" or time you cross start line.

"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

freckles

posted: 5/19/2008 at 3:43 PM

If the race isn't chipped I use my garmin time.

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

milkbaby

posted: 5/19/2008 at 4:03 PM

I note both the official time and the "net time" in my running log if it takes a while to cross the finish line. If it's just a few seconds difference, then I don't bother. I would refer to the net time as my PR though.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi "I have need to be all on fire, for I have mountains of ice about me to melt." -- William Lloyd Garrison "The marathon is an art; the marathoner is an artist." -- Kiyoshi Nakamura

stevieb

posted: 5/27/2008 at 7:06 PM

If a course is "Certified" using the USATF certification method then your garmin time should be ignored. The certification method is the same used for the olympic qualifiers. If a course is not USATF ceritified then the race director could have measured it by car, garmin, bike computer, gmap or any other measuring method all of which will come out with a different measurement.

"Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage" -George Patton"\

dnstapes

posted: 5/28/2008 at 8:38 AM

I'd use the official race time. I like to use someone else's watch to record my PRs. It keeps me honest.

MichiganFlyer

posted: 5/28/2008 at 10:00 AM

I always use the official race time. Most of my races have chip timing so that is not an issue. The 1st race this year had no start mat though so my watch time was 20:44 while my chip time was 20:48. I record my spliits using the 20:44 time but officially my time was 20:48. No big deal...You just need to start a little closer to the front without chip timing. If its not a personal record for me I will tell people my watch time is my time....but to get a presonal record I would want to see it printed in black and white to prove it....

Greg Rowe

The shirtless wonder

posted: 5/28/2008 at 10:36 AM

If the race is not chip timed or is fake-chip timed then I used my stopwatch for my records. Fake-chip timed events are ones where they have chips but don't bother timing the start of the race, only the finish. This is usually OK for small races but if it takes me more than a couple of seconds to get to the start line I get annoyed. I also base my placement on chip time. If the race figures out placement based on gun time I note in my training log that my results are not the official ones because I'm using the chip time. For example, this past Sunday, I ran the Buffalo Half Marathon. My chip time was better than at least 5 people that finished ahead of me. None of those 5 were in my age group but still... Greg

run.therowes.net

KathyRunning

posted: 5/28/2008 at 1:36 PM

Quote from MichiganFlyer on 5/28/2008 at 10:00 AM:

If its not a personal record for me I will tell people my watch time is my time....but to get a presonal record I would want to see it printed in black and white to prove it....

Lucky for me, both the Garmin time and the official time (not chip timed) were a PR. Smile

I didn't get so lucky with my 5K last Sunday, which was chip timed, and both chip and watch were in agreement, I ran it slower. Sad

http://www.runningnotes.net

RunAsics

The Limping Jogger

posted: 5/28/2008 at 3:26 PM
modified: 5/28/2008 at 3:27 PM

Gun time is the official time. "Garmin time" or "Garmin distance" (another popular metric) is only a notation in your training log.

"Only a few more laps to go and then the action will begin, unless this is the action, which it is."

Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 5/28/2008 at 4:25 PM

I use the official time if it is chip timed or a small race. I will use the Garmin time if it is a large un-chipped race and my official time is more than 3-4 seconds different. If the difference is only a few seconds, I go with official time. Garmin time is not like garmin distance. Time is accurate, as long as you dont have the garmin set to auto stop if you stop or anything. Distance has an error component.

I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

jEfFgObLuE

I've got a fever...

posted: 5/28/2008 at 4:26 PM

Quote from Ennay on 5/28/2008 at 4:25 PM:

Garmin time is not like garmin distance. Time is accurate, as long as you dont have the garmin set to auto stop if you stop or anything.

True unless you're getting Garmin time from MotionBased after uploading. Then, there is weirdness associated with moving time and total time. But yes, the time straight from the watch is as accurate as your finger.

On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

backstretch

posted: 6/1/2008 at 7:58 PM

Quote from jEfFgObLuE on 5/28/2008 at 4:26 PM:

True unless you're getting Garmin time from MotionBased after uploading. Then, there is weirdness associated with moving time and total time. But yes, the time straight from the watch is as accurate as your finger.

If you are using a true watch I would use it as your official time. The thing about the Garmins and other GPS devices is, if you lose the sat. signal it pauses until it picks up the signal again.You wouldn't notice this pause and it scews everything, time, distance and pace.

"The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius

Teresadfp

One day at a time

posted: 6/2/2008 at 12:44 PM

When I lost the satellite signal on my Garmin, the time kept going.

Mr R

posted: 6/2/2008 at 1:39 PM

Hierarchy of timing: 1. FAT 2. Hand timed by others 3. Hand timed by self 4. Gun time (if you can actually toe the line) 5. Chip time. I've had plenty of experience with screwy chip times. It probably has to do with the way that the mats were set up, but I don't really care where the error comes from as long as it's real. On the other hand, I've never had my watch be off of my gun time by more than a couple of tenths. Since there are no tenths in road racing, I'm satisfied with that.

What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that? -John Parker

Official Time versus Garmin Time (Read 1269 times)