5K race results: by gun time or chip time?
Get Your Rear In Gear 5K events promote colon cancer awareness
Should 5K race results be determined according to chip time or gun time? A recent comment from Terry, a GetYourRearinGear.com blog reader, generated this question. He asked why the Twin Cites Get Your Rear in Gear results were listed according to gun time and not according to chip time. This inspired quite a bit of discussion at the Colon Cancer Coalition and among many of our race participants and runners.
For those who have not run a “chip-timed” race, a timing chip is a device that is attached to the runner (usually to the runner’s shoe) and provides a computer generated finishing time. The chip records the moment the runner crosses a timing mat at the start line and the moment he/she crosses the timing mat at the finish line to calculate an exact time and pace. Chip time is usually different from “gun time”, which records the amount of time that lapses between the sound of the starting gun and the runner’s finish. If a runner is at the middle of a large crowd when the starting gun goes off, it may take him/her several seconds to get to the starting line. Those extra seconds can affect the runner’s overall finishing time and place. For this reason, the use of timing chips has become extremely popular because it allows runners at any place in the pack to receive an “accurate” time.
However, USA Track and Field does not recognize chip times as official finish times. USATF is the governing body of the sport of running. They certify race courses and record results for runners across the country. Races of all sizes and distances submit results to the organization as part of the process of becoming a USATF certified race. According to information on the organization’s website, although chip times should be submitted, they are not considered official.
“The official finish time is the ‘gun’ time even if ‘chip’ scoring is used.” – USATF policy
There has been heated discussion among race directors about whether or not chip times should be used to record official times and award results. USATF has responded by providing a detailed explanation of their stand. In First to the Finish, USATF Associate Marketing Director Jim Estes explains that the pure sport of running is about crossing the finish line first, not about finishing the course in the shortest period of time. He goes on to say that “chips are used primarily by race directors to give “mid-pack” runners who start farther back a true sense of their finishing time, and also to prevent race fraud.”
As a USATF certified course, the Twin Cities Get Your Rear in Gear 5K Run/Walk honors the organization’s policy. Mary Anderson of Anderson Race Management provides timing services for the event and reiterated the USATF policy when asked about local results. “USATF only recognizes gun time for awards and that is how awards are calculated for USATF certified races, and for most races in general. Chip time is used more for people to see how they did.” Certainly in the Twin Cities, race events manage this issue differently. Among runners, it is a topic of much debate.
Thanks to Terry, who posted this important question!
Chip time or Gun Time?
Depends on the race and what it is…
Get Your Rear in Gear is mainly a race for a cause. Based on that, I don’t see people running it to be overly competitive. There may be 10 to 20 people up front who are running it as a race, but the bulk of the participants (I chose that word on purpose) are in it for the cause. For them, chip time is fine. That way you do not penalize those who end up behind walkers who do not know where to line up.
If we are talking a race like the Brian Kraft (which is HIGHLY competitive), I think it is insane not to have chip timing. If they did, it would minimize the potentially dangerous situations that we currently encounter when we have people lining up with the sub 16 minute runners when they are going to run 24 minutes — that is a formula for injury.
Of course this is just my opinion — I could be wrong!
Thanks for the comment, Rob. At the Twin Cities Get Your Rear in Gear, we hold off walkers so that runners can be competitive if they choose to do so. Our walkers begin five minutes after the runners. But you’re right, there may be problems with faster runners trying to weave in and out of slower participants. But some people also consider that to be part of the challenge. Did you read the USATF article? It’s an interesting perspective, that the winner is not supposed to be the fastest runner, but in fact, it should be the runner who crosses the finish line first. USATF posted the article in response to an interesting situation in the 2008 Nike Marathon where the first place female finisher was eleven minutes slower than another female participant.
As a proud sponsor of the GYRIG Twin cities race, NiTi strongly support the chip time. After all, each individual has making his/her own effort during the race, similarly to the individual confrontation with Colon Cancer. Hence, we believe that the individual effort and individual time is what counts.
We offer an alternative device for colorectal cancer. Check out our web-site for further information. We will keep endorsing the GYRIG races to support their noble cause.
All this chat about chip and gun time is very interesting but I’ve been hunting (no gun reference implied) all around the website and I can’t find any list of the run times. I did the New York run in June and would really like to know my time!!! can somebody give me a link to the Get Your Rear in Gear results?
Thanks,
Hi,
Thanks for the comment. You’ll find the race results on the bottom of the post race info page for the New York race at GetYourRearinGear.com. Click here for the link. Hope you enjoyed the event.
Very surprised and disappointed at this. I have run about 20 different races in the past 2 years and have never seen the participants placed by gun time. Doesnt that nullify the reason for chips?
My mother died of Colin Cancer 4 years ago, I have run this race 2 years in a row, and have loved it. I will continue to run this race for that reason, but I will continue to be disappointed when the use this gun time place system.