Who is in for the New Bedford Half Marathon this month? (Read 860 times)

I will be there - first stop in the New England Grand Prix Series. I must admit I am getting a little nervous about it too. I havent run a half marathon in about four years and I hear there are two rather large hills (one at mile 3 and one at mile 12). Anybody run this before and have some tips?

This is my third time running it. I will be there. I agree - weather does impact this race but it's a great race. Although there are those couple of hills ... there are some beautiful straight-a-ways that make up for lost time. You will enjoy it - just go for it as the course/weather allows! GOOD LUCK!

I'll be there. I found a course map on RA and copied it (and reversed it because the owner had drawn it backwards). I ran it last year, there are no big hills. Miles 4-7 are very fast and miles 8-11 can be fast if there's not too much wind along the water. That last hill at mile 12 is not steep but it comes at a difficult time. Overall it's a fast course. MAP.

This will be my second year. Last year was cold and very windy but I had a ball. Hope the weather is better for us this time. Looking forward to a fun day. Good Luck!

Does anyone know if it's a true chipped race with an actual start mat? It looks like results from previous years only give gun times.

Right, but all that tells me is that there's a finish mat. If there's a start mat I'll probably run it, if not I won't.

Thanks Blisters. I might still run it and just use my watch for my own personal "chip time". I'd already planned to run a half in May and just wanted to do this one to establish a baseline. I had an e-mail discussion with someone from Granite State Race Services last fall after I ran the Lowell half-marathon which, along with the simultaneous Bay State Marathon, was finish mat only. He told me that the additional "complexity" of having two mats synchronized along with having to store the separate start times for all runners from the start mat and then calculate the differences meant that the company had to charge races substantially more (he wouldn't tell me how much "substantially" was) to use two mats. As far as I can tell the difference is some more mats and possibly an additional computer (although I don't know why another one would be necessary if the start and finish are at the same location), which doesn't seem so substantial to me but what do I know. What I do know is that not having a start mat is kind of a big deal for a middle-of-the-pack runner like me in a race with a big (1000+) field. I either have to forgo an accurate time or start farther forward than I really belong, neither of which I want to do.

As far as I can tell the difference is some more mats and possibly an additional computer (although I don't know why another one would be necessary if the start and finish are at the same location), which doesn't seem so substantial to me but what do I know.

While I agree that it is very nice to have a start mat when you don't get to start near the front, it is a lot more complicated than just adding a mat and a computer. Results can be difficult to get even from a computer and chip timing, and having two mats double the possible errors. I don't know what software they use, but it would have to be able to take the multiple splits and factor everything in correctly. It plays hob nob with standings for people that don't start at the same time. And, the biggest thing, making sure that the mats are both synchronized and running at the same speed so that they stay synchronized from the time they are set up until the start of the race and until the last person crosses the starting line. Just look at Hawaii and the mess that they had with synchronization issues. Granted, they used a new kind of mat and chip that had problems from the weather, and championchip is more reliable, but its still an issue. For the New England Mile (RIP) we only used a finishing mat. It was too much work to try to get a start mat, especially since the race was so short and traffic could only be closed down for a very short period of time as the race went down one of the main streets in Portland.