Reply to "My weekend in Peoria"

jaywightCertifier

We decided 25 or so years ago that, at least for road races, "the course is short" is not acceptable. In the last 25 years, we've pretty much convinced the running community of that.

Mark is correct, of course. A few meters matters less than the nature of the course and the conditions that day.

I was standing at the chute at Northside Park in Wheaton last Saturday morning before the races and one of the coaches jogged up with a measuring wheel. I asked him what he had come up with, and he said about 143 meters longer than 3 miles. 4828 + 143 = 4971.

I measured the same course a few years ago with a bicycle calibrated on asphalt and got 4916 meters. The course has not materially changed. My experience in Peoria tells me that a bicycle calibrated on asphalt will measure long on grass. So my measurement was probably as much as 40 meters long.

So how long IS this course? Looks like it's time to drag a tape over it...

10/6/082:23 PM

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