Forums >Racing>Clock time vs Chip Time?
Hey all;
Maybe I'm a bit OCD here, but I have this curiosity:
I've been running timed races for 17 years, yet this only occurred to me today after running a 5K in my town.
The race used the Active Ipico timing system, which is an RFID tag on the bib and mats on the ground.
When I was about to cross the finish line, the clock read something like 24:50, but when I read my time on the results website, it was 25:50. So I'm asking myself whether I misread the big clock at the finish line, or was that clock just not properly synchronized with the computer that was running the chip timing system?
I suspect the latter, but for some reason, I had always thought that the clock at the finish was perfectly synchronized with the chip timing system (using a USB, Bluetooth, Wifi, or a wire) but apparently it is not, just as the clocks along the route are not perfectly synched. It all depends on whether or not each member of the timing team has synchronized his or her watch when the command to sync the clocks is given.
For large races like NYC, Boston, etc, I would assume that details like this are well thought out and executed, but for small town races like the one I ran today, not so much.
Ultrarunner
an amazing likeness
Ok, I'm going to express some negativity here...but WTF are you talking about. The clock at finish is just a display, no more than your Garmin, smartphone, Timex or whatever you're looking at on your wrist.
They fire the gun, you start running, someone from the timing company clicks start on the timing 'computer', they all walk back to the finish line while chatting about the weather, their weekend, the traffic or whatever --- then they look down at the counter on their starting timer and manually put that time into the finish display.
That display is just there to give you something to stare at and not ask the timers what your finish time was. Of course, in an net timed race, that finish clock means nothing...
Sorry for being grumpy, couldn't help myself.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
Mmmm Bop
What was the finish time on your watch? Any race I’ve run the clock is the gun time. If you started at the front then my guess is you misread the clock at the end.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
One day at a time
Yeah, I don't understand your question, either. There can be quite a few people finishing at any given time. How could the clock display all those different times if it was synchronized with each chip?
This thread actually makes me ask a question....The OP says he's been running races for 17 years. Were chips commonly used back then? If so, when did races start using chips?
It's weird to have the clock be off by a minute it that direction. Either someone goofed or you misread the clock.
Runners run
The original chip was the Champion chip which laced into your shoes or was attached using a small cable tie to your shoe laces. The company started back in 1993 and was very popular in late 1990s and early 2000s.
Disposable chips (the D which attached to your shoelaces and the B which went on your bib) came onto market primarily in 2008 when Champion tried to block use of other chips in US.
I guess it was my own shortsightedness that had me assuming that the clocks were synchronized.
That said, during large races like the NYC marathon, there are timing mats at splits along the course. I believe these are all tied into a server via the web, so all of their clocks will be synchronized.
Before there was electronic timing, someone would have to press a button when the horn sounded to start the race, and then as each runner came across the finish line, a button was pressed, marking the time that each runner crossed. The runners had to rip off the bottom of the bib and hand it to a volunteer standing in the finish chute, and it was that volunteer's responsibility to place the tags from each runner onto the spike in the proper order. I had one or two experiences where my tag was placed incorrectly, but it never made much difference in timing. The only way I would even have known that the order was incorrect is if I knew the bib # of the runner in front and behind me.
I still own a Championchip. I bought it when I ran with NYRR.
I recall the D, B, etc tags as well. I have never had a tag (or chip) that failed to register my finish time.
Another thing I recall is that for some races, there was a clock at each mile marker. Those clocks were "synchronized" manually with the volunteers using radios to communicate between them and the master timekeeper.
I'm not sure whether or not the race I ran on Sunday recorded each runner's start time, or just used the gun time for start. It wouldn't have made a difference in my time for this race, as I was not far from the start line. I believe that all of the major races now use chip time, and not gun time as standard for qualifying times. It would make sense, since the difference can be many minutes.
So, I'm not sure whether I misread the big clock, or what. I was only curious about it. I apologize for asking a confusing question.
I have had a bib chip fail to record my time. In my case it was an indoor marathon with a 500m loop. It started missing laps at about 13 miles. The best the race director and I could figure out was that sweating causing it to malfunction. He peeled it off my number and intended to look into it with the bib provider.
There are also numerous instances where a runner will not have a split time recorded when crossing intermediate split mats. Most races have a backup system to record finish positions and times. It is possible your chip time did not get recorded when you finished and they added you to the results by other means.
Are we there, yet?
At least in the small local races, the split and finish line clocks are all set and started manually, not synced electronically with the timing system. I discovered this in a 10K many years ago when I checked my chip time after the race. Noticing a discrepancy, I checked with a number of friends and every one of our times was off by 15 seconds. Knowing the RD personally I checked with him and he directed me to the timer. It turns out someone trip on the cord and pulled the plug out of the outlet. They made a quick estimate and restarted the clock but turned out to be 15 seconds off.
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.
As it was exactly a minute, they just set the finish line clock incorrectly (or you misread). To doublecheck this, ask other folks in your race.As for whether chips were commonly used in 2001 (17 years ago)... yes and no. There were a lot more races with no chip at all. But there were also a lot with chips... but different technology. None of this "tape thingy on the back of your bib" sorcery.Also candybars were a nickel. A nickel!
This generally happens because stuff happens.