Course Certification: The Martha's Vineyard Hurricanes Pinkletink Pace 5k

As mentioned in the previous post on the calibration course the Martha's Vineyard Hurricanes XC Club is hosting the Pinkletink Pace 5k road race on April 29th., as such Reaan and I have been working to certify the course in order to provide the accurate race distance we've advertised. In my last last post I explained in brief detail the measurement of the calibration course, and presented the official certification map for that course. In this post I'll explain a bit about the measurement of the course itself.

In choosing the race course's route Kim Kirk (co-coach and chief organizer of all things Hurricanes) picked a loop around West Chop which was already very close to a perfect 5km, as such measuring the course was not a terribly complicated procedure compared to other course measurements, and the bulk of the work was focused on confirming length and determining precise start and finish points. The actual measurement of the course is done by riding a calibrated bicycle sporting a Jone Counter (photo below) twice around the course and noting the number of counts registered, the measuring rider also uses the counts of the Jones counter to determine the precise location of all intermediate points (mile markers) along the course.

The day of measurement was not exactly a pleasant one, but it was the day we had so Reaan and I decided to just go for it and suck up the discomfort to get the job done! While dodging rain drops and bundling up against the cold we started the day at out calibration course, where we did a quick calibration of the bicycle (four rides in each direction along the calibration course) before proceeding to the race course. While on course we completed two  rides of the complete route noting all intermediate points. All in all the process went smoothly and we were only on the course for about two hours before we had all the measurements we needed and were able to head back to the calibration course for a final re-calibration of the bicycle with another four rides. 

Following the actual measurement the numerous calculations required were made and the course length was determined to be the correct length, and the start and finish points permanently marked with PK nails and washers. Finally a map of the course was drawn and the course was certified by the USATF certifier in Boston. And there we have it, a cerified course ready for a fun day of racing and an opportunity for runners to set a time on a course which is true to the advertised distance! 

Course Certification: FIre Rd. A Calibration Course

As many of you may know the Martha's Vineyard Hurricanes XC Club is hosting the Pinkletink Pace 5k road race April 29th to benefit both our organization and the First Hugs Orphanage in China (where one of our runners spent his early life). One of the goals in putting on this races (aside from raising charitable funds), was to provide a truly competitive environment for all runners, as well as to provide an accurate and enjoyable race course, and the best way to achieve those aims is of course to have the race course USATF certified.

Having a race certified is not as easy a thing as one might think, after all USATF certification means that time run on the course are IAAF record eligible, and as such courses need to be accurate to within fractions of meter. This high level or resolution cannot be achieved by simply driving your car around a race course and referencing your odometer, or even by using a sophisticated GPS watch. Race course which are USATF certified are measured by calibration of a bicycle and complex system of checks which ensure that the course CANNOT be short. All of this precision is of course laborious and extremely time consuming, however for those who care a great deal about the validity of race results it is a very worthwhile endeavor.  

The first step in certifying a course is the laying out of a calibration course. Courses are a straight line steel tape measured course which is corrected for thermal expansion or contraction of the tape and which are laid out on a paved surface. For our course Reaan and I chose the perfectly straight road behind the Martha's Vineyard High School (Fire Rd. A) and measured out a 1000' calibration course along the road. Unfortunately for us it's winter so laying out the course, and measuring it twice turned into a frigid exercise is misery, but in the end the course was measured and we had the first step in the journey to certification completed!