Congratulations Slave and Catrin!!!

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Jack Manfred

Or, alternate plan... suggest a threesome.

That won't work. He'll have to get a whole new wardrobe.

TM

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Why would there have to be such a large stagger? The group of elites should be small enough to start 30 seconds ahead of everyone else. Coltrane just said it is damn near impossible to run at the pace at which they run, so anyone who catches, keeps up and/or passes them from the second group should be respected.

TM

I don't get that either. If they actually enforced only elites at the front they don't even need a stagger. the real problem with that would be for the next group. they'll be pissed that they lost 10 seconds at the start.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

That won't work. He'll have to get a whole new wardrobe.

TM

plus a second woman.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I don't understand what the hell you're talking about. You said she wasn't that interested. You aren't that interested. Just tell her it's not going anywhere and you should just be friends. What's the big deal?

TM

2. Tell her the truth. She's an adult. Don't stay in something just to spare her feelings, and don't keep stuff from her because you think it'll hurt her. There's no point in staying in this thing if you're not into it anymore.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by LessinSF

They started the "elites" 20 minutes before the rest. 10 minutes would have prevented this because the winner (yes, she won) would have caught the lead pack and been noticed.

I don't understand why the elites start any minutes before. As long as they have their own corral, no one will catch them. And so what if they do? Both Chicago and Boston use the corral system. I usually cross the start line 45 seconds after the elites start (not because they hold you back, but b/c everyone jogs up to the start line, and it just takes time for each corral, which is crowded before the start line, to make its way up there).

It makes sense for the elites to start a few minutes earlier in triathlons, but not for running races.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

I don't understand why the elites start any minutes before.

So they don't have 50 Coltranes mugging into the camera for the first 100 yards while they lead the marathon?

TM

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Why would there have to be such a large stagger? The group of elites should be small enough to start 30 seconds ahead of everyone else. Coltrane just said it is damn near impossible to run at the pace at which they run, so anyone who catches, keeps up and/or passes them from the second group should be respected.

TM

Exactly. I finished in the top 2% of finishers in 2002. And I would only be able to keep up with the true elites for one mile. They are so many levels above even a decent amateur runner.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I don't get that either. If they actually enforced only elites at the front they don't even need a stagger. the real problem with that would be for the next group. they'll be pissed that they lost 10 seconds at the start.

Chip timing.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

So they don't have 50 Coltranes mugging into the camera for the first 100 yards while they lead the marathon?

TM

Well, with corral starts, those people would still have to catch them. If they have a 30-45 second head start, I don't think anyone is catching them, even sprinting.

But yeah, that was definitely part of my plan: to wave at the cameras and get my name in the paper as the leader through two miles.

I never said it was a good plan.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

Chip timing.

Isn't that the same problem? It's fine for an "unofficial" time, or even qualifying purposes, but you're back in the same situation if you use it for determining the winner.

BTW, I thought Boston now sent off the elites, or maybe it's the elite women, 1/2 hour earlier.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

Chip timing.

Yeah, but even with chip timing, isn't the "winner" determined by the time from the starting gun, not the time that the runner crossed the sensor at the starting line?

*Hank caveat: I've run a grand total of one (1)** half marathon in my life. I believe my chip crossed the starting line 4:45.7 after the starting gun went off. In order to "win" I would have had to shave off 4:45.8 from the time of whoever came across the finish line first. Since none of this is ever, ever going to happen, I've never really thought about it much.

**I just started training for my second, which is in about three months.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)

Isn't that the same problem? It's fine for an "unofficial" time, or even qualifying purposes, but you're back in the same situation if you use it for determining the winner.

BTW, I thought Boston now sent off the elites, or maybe it's the elite women, 1/2 hour earlier.

One issue: if you use chip timing, it's probably very tough to monitor non-elites to see whether they are cutting through alleys or otherwise cheating a la Rosie Ruiz.

I last ran Boston in 2004, so it may have changed. Actually, the elite women may have started early then, too, now that I think about it.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

One issue: if you use chip timing, it's probably very tough to monitor non-elites to see whether they are cutting through alleys or otherwise cheating a la Rosie Ruiz.

Doesn't the same problem exist without chip timing? I'm pretty sure Rosie wasn't chipped.

Also, aren't there random/hidden chip test points to prevent the Ruiz problem?

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)

Doesn't the same problem exist without chip timing? I'm pretty sure Rosie wasn't chipped.

Also, aren't there random/hidden chip test points to prevent the Ruiz problem?

But Rosie ran before they had designated "elites" at races. That's probably one of the reasons why the elites get their own start corral/wave. So they don't have to monitor thousands of people. I wasn't saying that chip timing prevents cheating. Rather, I meant that creating an elite corral/wave does.

Chip timing actually allows non-elites to compete against elites, just like our Arien did. I don't think chip timing solves any of the problems; I was just commenting on Hank's post that the non-elites "lose 10 seconds" because a later start. They don't.

I think all of the time points are open and obvious (and labeled as such).

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

I want out. Someone make it stop.