Alright, here’s the deal with the IMS Arizona Marathon. The race director said some of the pace folks using GPS receivers also noticed variations in the course length. But they’ve decided to let the results stand as they are since USATF certified it.
Now, apparently USATF is calculating the course length by having two people ride bicycles that somehow use their wheels to measure the course. The bicyclist and ex-shop rat in me doesn’t like that – there are simply too many variables involved in a bike tire versus the cold-blooded accuracy of a modern GPS receiver. Cruise missiles use GPS receivers for guidance, not tires (obviously!).
The race director did say that next year’s plans call for some adjustments to the course. I think that’s a reasonable compromise.
Either way, my wife and I still scored our personal records. So I can dig it. Good luck to ‘em next year, right?
IMS Arizona Marathon
IMS Marathon – The Final Post
A glitch in the IMS Marathon matrix
It seems there might be a controversy brewing about the IMS Arizona results. Word is the pace group leaders and other runners using GPS receivers are saying the marathon course was a full .25 miles long. That’s a quarter of a mile, and enough to really jack the times up by a good two minutes.
So far, the race director does not look very open to input from people in the know. She claims the Boston Marathon folks laid the course out, and she trusts them to be right on the money over the GPS receivers. Had it been a few receivers, I could see. Had it been a smaller fraction of a mile (like .05 miles), I could see. But this is not good.
Stay tuned for more …
