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Faulty GPS or Faulty Race Distance? (Read 883 times)

xor


    pansy crap makes good fertilizer.

     


    Feeling the growl again

      Oh come on. Haven't you seen the numbers at the rock-and-roll profit centers? Running has become very popular and amateurish, and all the traditional values have been overthrown, and people just value pansy crap like pretty shoes, and pretty clothes, and not getting run over, and everyone getting a medal, and all that. The sport is essentially over.

       

      What the hell are you talking about?  Everybody knows it's the goodie bag and tech shirt that are worth the $200 entry fee.

       

      For a 5K marathon.

      "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

       

      nextyearcubs


        Saturday I ran the Des Plaines River Trail Marathon for the second year in a row.  When I ran it last year, I my Garmin measured it short, 25.5 miles.  I'd always seen courses measured long, it seems like 26.3 is the minimum, so this was kind of odd.  I chalked it up to a winding course through the woods...

         

        I signed up again because other than that, it was a scenic race, close to home, not very expensive, and very convenient.  I liked the community feel of a smaller race, and the cameraderie on the trail.  The distance thing bothered me, until I saw that the course was certified this year.

         

        It turns out, it was short last year.  We ran further on each turn around, and it measured 26.32 miles on my Garmin.  I asked the RD after, and he admitted as much.  It happens.

        5K 20:20 9/17/11 13.1 1:36:58 6/12/11 26.2 3:34:19 9/23/2012

        AmoresPerros


        Options,Account, Forums

          What I usually do, when the course is short, is run slow enough to avoid setting an American record, to avoid any sort of controversy.

          It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

          xor


            I just run a little extra.

             

            Trent told me to.

             


            #artbydmcbride

              I just put an * in my log

               

              Runners run

                All this makes me think it may be more of an oddity for a Garmin to read exactly 26.2 at the end of a marathon.
                  All this makes me think it may be more of an oddity for a Garmin to read exactly 26.2 at the end of a marathon.

                   

                  Yes, if your Garmin reads exactly 26.2 miles at the end of a marathon, the course was probably short.

                    Then I'll take my 26.46 and be happy. Smile

                      Yes, if your Garmin reads exactly 26.2 miles at the end of a marathon, the course was probably short.

                       

                      I have an even stranger one to report.  The Bear Water Run 10 Mile  in White Bear Lake, MN is a USATF Certified course. Many state records have been set on the course.

                       

                      Here is it's certification number: MN04027RR

                      Go here to find it: http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/search/

                       

                      I've run it a couple of times, and each time my GPS measures short, 9.95 or 9.98 or so. 

                       

                      The most interesting thing, and cause for skepticism about it is the Start and Finish are at exactly the same place.  A 10 mile roop around a lake is exactly 10 miles, without any out and backs or adjustments?   What is the probability of such a coincidence? 

                      I think something is fishy.

                      LedLincoln


                      not bad for mile 25

                        Stop when your Garmin says 26.2.  Just stop.

                        HermosaBoy


                          I have an even stranger one to report.  The Bear Water Run 10 Mile  in White Bear Lake, MN is a USATF Certified course. Many state records have been set on the course.

                           

                          Here is it's certification number: MN04027RR

                          Go here to find it: http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/search/

                           

                          I've run it a couple of times, and each time my GPS measures short, 9.95 or 9.98 or so. 

                           

                          The most interesting thing, and cause for skepticism about it is the Start and Finish are at exactly the same place.  A 10 mile roop around a lake is exactly 10 miles, without any out and backs or adjustments?   What is the probability of such a coincidence? 

                          I think something is fishy.

                           

                          It's the little neighborhood loop with the nice hills that gets it to exactly 10 miles.

                          And you can quote me as saying I was mis-quoted. Groucho Marx

                           

                          Rob


                          Why is it sideways?

                            Anyone want to chime in on this thread who raced back before GPS and running logs?

                             

                            A couple years back, I ran what I thought was a 5k road PR, breaking 16 for the first time since college. Turns out the course was marked incorrectly, and my time was off by about 15 seconds. But I didn't know it at the time. So, I believed that I had finally broken though a barrier I had been pushing on for a while. That "breakthrough" gave me the confidence to train faster, and to shoot for even faster times -- and I had a great season after what I thought was a breakthrough in fitness, eventually breaking that barrier a couple times more.

                             

                            Another story: back when I raced in high school and college XC, many of the courses were short, and all of them were more or less approximate. But a fast time on a course, short or not, could do tons for your confidence and help you break through mental barriers that we build up around certain times.

                             

                            Sometimes correct knowledge is overrated.

                              I remember when basketballs were made of wood.

                              Runners run

                              AmoresPerros


                              Options,Account, Forums

                                 

                                The most interesting thing, and cause for skepticism about it is the Start and Finish are at exactly the same place.  A 10 mile roop around a lake is exactly 10 miles, without any out and backs or adjustments?   What is the probability of such a coincidence? 

                                I think something is fishy.

                                 

                                I suspect the chance of that coincidence is about the same as the chance that it would be 9.98 miles.

                                It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

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