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Reply to "Eliminate Expirations and Renewals"

I can’t remember precisely the history of the expiration policy. I believe it may have begun when the course list was published as a book rather than online. This was done for several years before USATF got its website up and running. As I recall it was a practical solution to our inability to cope with fatter and fatter course books, and ever-growing masses of filing cabinets. These reasons no longer exist.

I’m familiar with the Columbus, Ohio certification scene because I was the most frequent measurer there. Here are some observations:

In Upper Arlington, the Columbus suburb where I live, there is a little one-horse 5 miler that has been held since the early 1980’s. I measured it as OH84011PR and again, after it expired, as OH06001PR. I thought it a waste of time, as the roads and landmarks have been unchanged since 1984. I intend no further remeasurements. The organizers don’t seem to care.

At the other end of the spectrum, Race for the Cure 5k has been measured just about every other year since 1993. Columbus Marathon has also had frequent course changes.

I have no knowledge of USATF web site’s ability to archive all of our courses, and have no problem with a ten year cutoff for listing on the USATF web site.

I also have no knowledge of whether the Records Committee has ever had a record application from a race held on a course measured over ten years prior to the race date. If they have, it’s certainly a rarity which could easily be judged on a case-by-case basis.

The question arises – why should the owner of an expired course care whether or not the course is still listed on the USATF site? They presumably still possess their original certificate and map and can show it to anyone who cares (actually, they probably have lost it).

The idea that almost every course more than 10 years old is unused is probably valid. There is solid justification for not continuing to carry the old maps on the USATF web site and search engine.

All these things swim in my head and the best thing for me to do is back off. I retain my original opinion that a certification should be valid until either failing validation or the route changing from what was originally certified. I have no problem at all with maps being unavailable on the USATF site after ten years.

Jay Wight’s solution would allow an old course to get a new certificate without undue stress. Original info from the original measurer would do the job. A new certificate is unnecessary if we consider that any unchanged certified route remains certified. After ten years, though, the burden of proof lies in the hands of those outside RRTC.
Last edited by peteriegel
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