Gun time vs. Chip time (Read 477 times)

Ittakes2freestyl


    I just ran my 1st 5k at the Rotary 5k. The final times they went off of was the gun time. Why do you wear chips then?  i assumed they went off the chips. Been training for my 1st 13.1 in march and still learning.

      Sometimes, especially at smaller races, there is no start mat, only a finish mat. In those cases the chip timing just makes it easier and less error-prone to time the race.

       

      Usually if a half marathon uses chip timing, there will be a start mat and finish mat so you should get a net time.

      Runners run

      Ittakes2freestyl


        I know I ran over a mat at the start. I saw em roll it out. I'll make sure I'm up front next time I guess.  Thanks

        wcrunner2


        Are we there, yet?

          I know I ran over a mat at the start. I saw em roll it out. I'll make sure I'm up front next time I guess.  Thanks

          Please don't unless you're fast enough to run with the leaders.

           

          It's standard to use gun time and actual place for awards. For USATF sanctioned events it's required. Chip time is provided as a courtesy to the runners and for their use. The RD does have the option to use chip time for age group awards, but in my experince most don't. I know I'd be upset if some guy I beat to the finish line was placed ahead of me because he ran a second faster by chip time.

           2024 Races:

                03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                05/11 - D3 50K
                05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

           

           

               

            It's standard to use gun time and actual place for awards. For USATF sanctioned events it's required. Chip time is provided as a courtesy to the runners and for their use. The RD does have the option to use chip time for age group awards ...

            +1 to this.  For your purposes, use the chip time as your actual race time.

             

            And FWIW, I've seen official results and overall awards always based on gun times, but AG awards based on chip or gun times (depending on the race).

            "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

            -- Dick LeBeau

            LedLincoln


            not bad for mile 25

              Please don't unless you're fast enough to run with the leaders.

               

              It's standard to use gun time and actual place for awards. For USATF sanctioned events it's required. Chip time is provided as a courtesy to the runners and for their use. The RD does have the option to use chip time for age group awards, but in my experince most don't. I know I'd be upset if some guy I beat to the finish line was placed ahead of me because he ran a second faster by chip time.

               

              No, that guy was faster than you, correct?  I want the AG awards to be based on chip time (as they have been in every race I have run).  Who knows where anyone other than the elites lined up in relation to each other.

               

              To the OP:  They may later publish the complete results based on chip time, so you may want to watch for that.


              Feeling the growl again

                Please don't unless you're fast enough to run with the leaders.

                 

                 

                Why not?  Watching a headphone-wearing midpacker woman hollering when she started getting steamrolled by the ~2:30 guys because she had weaseled her way into the very front line of the non-elites at the Chicago Marathon added some amusement to help diffuse the early-race nerves.  Wink

                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                 

                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                 


                Right on Hereford...

                  Please don't [line up at the front] unless you're fast enough to run with the leaders.

                   

                  It's standard to use gun time and actual place for awards. For USATF sanctioned events it's required. Chip time is provided as a courtesy to the runners and for their use. The RD does have the option to use chip time for age group awards, but in my experince most don't. I know I'd be upset if some guy I beat to the finish line was placed ahead of me because he ran a second faster by chip time.

                   

                  As a professional race timer, every point in wcrunner's post above is spot on.

                   

                  If the race director has asked for a mat at the start, we always provide both chip time and gun time in our results. Since it's a USATF rule, and a good idea for other reasons as well, we always rank by gun time for overall results by default (even for non-USATF races), but will rank by chip time for age group awards upon request. It may make sense in rare cases (very large non-USATF races, for example) to use chip time as the official time, and we will do that if requested.

                   

                  Note that any race that requires qualifying times (Boston Marathon, Bolder Boulder, NYC Marathon, etc) will accept chip times for qualifying purposes.

                  wcrunner2


                  Are we there, yet?

                     

                    No, that guy was faster than you, correct?  I want the AG awards to be based on chip time (as they have been in every race I have run).  Who knows where anyone other than the elites lined up in relation to each other.

                     

                    No, it's a race, not a time trial. It's who gets from point A to point B first.

                     2024 Races:

                          03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                          05/11 - D3 50K
                          05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                          06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

                     

                     

                         


                    some call me Tim

                      ...and why learning how far back(or forward) to line up is a skill all its own.

                      xhristopher


                        No, it's a race, not a time trial. It's who gets from point A to point B first.

                         

                        In my last race (23,000 people) a 15 year old kid out kicked me to the line. I tried to respond with all I had but lost by barely a step and we finished with the same clock time. I had a chip time 2 seconds faster and a better placing but the competitive jerk inside knows he beat me fair and square.

                        Buzzie


                        Bacon Party!

                          Know the rules of the race you are running. Line up and run accordingly.

                          Liz

                          pace sera, sera

                          zonykel


                            My times are nowhere near competitive for my AG. So this whole gun time vs. chip time debate is more for those who expect/hope to place.


                            Oh roo roooo!

                               

                              Why not?  Watching a headphone-wearing midpacker woman hollering when she started getting steamrolled by the ~2:30 guys because she had weaseled her way into the very front line of the non-elites at the Chicago Marathon added some amusement to help diffuse the early-race nerves.  Wink

                               

                              Gosh, got a link to video of this?  I'd pay to see that!  I am totally a midpack runner myself, always make sure to start what I think is appropriately far back and am STILL always amazed by the number of people that have come back to me (many of whom are much, much younger and thinner!) even in the early part of a given race.  As another poster mentioned, learning where to line up is an important skill.

                              LedLincoln


                              not bad for mile 25

                                No, it's a race, not a time trial. It's who gets from point A to point B first.

                                My point is, in a race of any size, a few thousand or more, Point A is not going to be the same for say, all the 35M - 40M participants.  In large races, the starting spots can vary by minutes.  They try to have us line up according to expected pace, but they don't have us line up according to AG.