RunForLife2 wrote:
If you look at the entire race it seems like splits are easy to compute since handoffs, unlike the 4x100, are made while the next runner is either perfectly still or marginally starting to move. There is a tradition of citing splits for 4x400 races and up…they are relatively meaningful and IMO should be counted as part of the progression of a runner’s performance. Whether this is the actual practice seems to be in some dispute in this forum.
Typically handoff zones are at the finish line. The correct way to time a split is when the receiving runner crosses the finish line the clock starts for that runner and finishes for the previous runner. Since the 4x1500 uses zones on all parts of the track, there is no way to accurately time the splits automatically. As for the baton having a chip in it, that's a new on for me. I've never heard of that before.