Local running club is preparing to certify their upcoming race course. Club member has said "Does certification make the course any more accurate? Maybe."
Seems to me they miss the point. Certification means accuracy. Unless it is later found that the certification was done improperly, you toe the line on a USATF certified course and you can take the results and use them for WR purposes, NR purposes and for the local 10K sans Kenyans and others, for PR purposes.
bad wording. certification doesnt "make" a course "more accurate." a course cant be "more" accurate than accurate. certification ensures accuracy, though.
and if certification is done improperly, there's really no point in having a certification system. but i havent ever heard of a course being certified inaccurately. the most common mistakes are runners being led off certified courses.
Or the RD changing the start and/or finish and not getting the course recertified.
I think that is what happened at the Lakeshore Marathon in Chicago last year.
Or the RD changing the start and/or finish and not getting the course recertified.
I think that is what happened at the Lakeshore Marathon in Chicago last year.
dont mistake a sanction for a certifcation too.
USATF sanction just means you paid a fee for insurance and agree to their minimal rules and race standards. a race that just says it's "USATF-sanctioned" (which is entirely legitimate) likely isnt certified.
How was it that NYC was short when Salazar ran 2:08:13? Wasn't the course certified for the 26.2 mile distance? If so did they place the start or finish in the wrong place?
Sanctioned is different and no mistake there. Certified to me means the course has been verified to be the distance is claims.
Ask JimG.
A course is not certified if done inaccuately. Each state has USATF certifier who heads that state. After you measure, you send him the paperwork, he reviews it and if mistakes, sends it back to you to redo. If correct its sent on. The biggest mistake I see, correct me if I am wrong, is that, if you mail, have the paperwork postmarked at least the day before the race, it is certified for that race, unless it is found there is a mistake in your measurement, math ect. and refused by the state certifier. Biggest mistakes in races is a volunteer not knowing the course and turning runners wrong, or poorly marked course.