Race times and chip times

ChampionChip

Now that we are at the start of another season and its great to see so many new runners joining the sport perhaps it timely to re inforce the issues re chiptimes and finish times. I will keep it general and hopefully cover what all the timing companies do in Ireland.

If the race has a permit from AAI or Athletics NI then their rules apply and they are the IAAF rules on race timing, namely Rule 165 which I have copied below. The proper name for a timing chip is a transponder.


IAAF Rule 165.24 in Regard to Transponder Timing Systems

Page 114 and 115 of IAAF Rule Book

24. The use of Transponder Timing Systems approved by IAAF in events held under Rules 230 (races not held completely in the stadium), 240 and 250 is permitted provided that:

(a) None of the equipment used at the start, along the course or at the finish line constitutes a significant obstacle or barrier to the progress of an athlete.

(b) The weight of the transponder and its housing carried on the athletes' uniform, number bib or shoe is not significant.

(c) The System is started by the Starter's gun or approved starting apparatus.

(d) The System requires no action by an athlete during the competition,at the finish or at any stage in the result processing.

(e) The resolution is 1/10th of a second (i.e. it can separate athletes finishing 1/10th of a second apart). For all races, the time shall be read to1/10th of a second and recorded to the whole second.

All read times not ending in zero shall be converted and recorded to the next longer whole second, e.g. for the Marathon, 2:09:44.3 shall be recorded as2:09:45.

Note: The official time shall be the time elapsed between the firing of the starting gun and the athlete reaching the finish line. However, the time elapsed between an athlete crossing the startline and the finish line can be made known to him, but will not be considered an official time.

I usually publish the official time first ie the time taken from the gun signal to the runner crossing the finish line. This is the order the runners crossed the finish line and from which the prizes showuld be decided. I call it Finish but other timers may call it Gross for example. This time will usually not match the time on your watch unless you were close to the front of the start line.

Later, once I have sorted out the false starts and those who walk over the line before the gun and those who jump into the race and never crossed the start line at all, I will publish the time taken from the chip crossing the mats at the start and the finish. I call this chiptime but others may calll it Nett time. This time should match your personal watch time if you started it as you cross the start and finish lines.

Its not your official time as per the last part of the rule in italics but some races may accept it as your true time if you need to show you have beaten a particular time to gain entry.

Hope this helps clear up any issues people are mulling over.

gammy_knees

So race results and positioning are determined from Gross timing. Correct me if I'm wrong but would this not be a true reflection of the time taken from start line to finish line? Should positions not be determined by chip timing? I did read the Note

rom

Would chip or gun time be used in a GFA time ?

ChampionChip

I fully agree with your point. However it would be unworkable for the race organiser to allow anyone to start any time they like and use their chip time as their official time. Could happen that the winner crossing the line actually ran slower than someone who started later but ran a faster time. Would cause no end of confusion and arguments.

ChampionChip

rom wrote: »

Would chip or gun time be used in a GFA time ?

I am not familiar with GFA, sorry.

rom

ChampionChip wrote: »

I am not familiar with GFA, sorry.

Good for age. To get a time for London/New York/Boston for example which one is used.

ChampionChip

They would usually take the chiptime but Afaik the race in question would ask what timing system is used and would decide if they believe the time to be bona fide.

TFBubendorfer

gammy_knees wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but would this not be a true reflection of the time taken from start line to finish line? Should positions not be determined by chip timing?

If you took positions from chip times then you would get the situation that one runner manages to out-sprint another one at the finish line yet ends up behind him/her in the results because of a second or two extra at the start of the race.

It would leave any race open to tactical abuse when you could start 2 seconds behind your direct rival yet stay right on his/her should for the entire race and win because of the timing chip.

RayCun

and means you can't award prizes until the chip times have been worked out, and maybe there'll be a problem with some of the chips.

If you're just counting first across the finish line, there are no such problems.

thirstywork2

Any team results yet :rolleyes:

TRR

thirstywork2 wrote: »

Any team results yet :rolleyes:

On msb website. Rathfarnham won. No other teams listed. Must be just prizes for 1st team.