Race Chips (Read 1173 times)

Sounds like the chips actually record the time you personally leave the start line, but how does that work? Are the chips electronic and somehow linked to you??

It depends upon whether there is a pad at the start and the finish. Seaway did both last year, so your official time is from your start to your finish, but I have run other races that only have a pad at the finish, so then your time is from gun to your crossing the line. So if it takes you 30 seconds just to get to the start line, that can add to your overall time. How it works is that your chip has a # associated with it. This number is entered along with your race info. I'm not sure exactly how the chips register with the pad, but I do know that they have to be on your shoe. Higher on your body and they don't communicate with the pad properly. k

The chips contain radiofrequency tags. These can be detected by monitors in the mats. Each chip has a unique number associated with it. When you register, the race team assigns one of the chips and its number to your name. Then, as you run, the monitors in the mat detect your chip and a computer tracks your time at each mat. There may be a mat just at the start and finish lines, and there may be mats along the way (e.g., the Green Bay marathon has a mat at every mile). Every time you cross a mat, the computer registers your time. Most people consider their time for a race the time it takes them to go from the starting line mat to the finish line mat. This is called the net time or chip time. The USATF recommends that awards be given on the basis of gun time rather than net time. So if you cross the start line one minute after the gun fires and the finish line 16 minutes after the gun fires, your gun time is 16 minutes, but your net time is 15 minutes. If somebody else has a gun time of 15:30 and a chip time of 15:30, their gun time will trump yours, even through they ran the course more slowly.

No. Use the little plastic tie thingies.

Reading comprehension is an underrated skill:

They're tied to your shoelaces with those little plastic string thingies.

Did you actually do a survey? Just curious. Cuz I have used lots and lots of different varieties of chips.

Didn't have a clue, thus the "seems" I threw in there. It "seems" to be the name I hear most. Can't even think of another company at the moment. But since Google is also a good friend to have, this is from MarathonGuide.com:

Currently there are three major chip timing systems in use: The oldest and most used in running is the ChampionChip system which is headquartered in the Netherlands. ChampionChips are tied to a runner's shoelaces.

And Trent? That last sentence there ... they mean with the little plastic thingies.

You've just gotta love this site. You guys are awesome! It took me awhile to read through it all. My brain hurts, but I think I think I came out of it ok! I see things differently now as I couldn't understand why, if chips are available, a race would be based on the gun. I'd hate to become one of the leaders, looking behind me and wondering what everybody's chip times were and how i compared to them even though i was currently at the front of the pack. Then again, I'd hate to be faster than the leaders and lose just because I somehow started after them. But since I'll not have to worry about any of that, I'll just kick back and hopefully enjoy any race that I run despite how it's timed! Since we're solving life's mysteries, what are the pads like? They must be wide enough to cross the width of the race path as I can't see everyone congregating to one "side" to cross over the pad(s)?? clhagan, GOOD LUCK with your first 5k!! Can't wait to read your race report! How exciting!

Use the little plastic tie thingies. They clip right off.

I used the plastic thingies the first time I was chipped and they broke. The Striders made me pay for a replacement chip. [25 or 40, I forget] Needless to say I haven't used them since, nor would I recommend them. Let them get pissed if they want. I was more pissed paying for it. Lace the chip to your shoe with shoestring! Your wallet will appreciate it.

... Modified to add: and Perfesser, what happened to your ape-ish avatar? I kinda dug it.

Maybe I'll go back to that one! That's strange--In Safari the avatar that shows is the stream crossing, but in Firefox it's the ape-ish one.