Comments on: 5K race results: by gun time or chip time?

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:42:48 +0000

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.

By: Malia Frey

Malia Frey — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:23:57 +0000

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.

By: RRW

RRW — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 01:45:16 +0000

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,

By: NiTi Surgical Solutions

NiTi Surgical Solutions — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:49:32 +0000

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.

By: Malia Frey

Malia Frey — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:51:28 +0000

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.

By: Rob Economy

Rob Economy — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:41:23 +0000

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!