Mark, I agree. But WHY do we certify courses? Not, I think, just to have a certified course, but to help ensure that runners have a correctly measured course to run. So to the extent that race managers don't pay attention to key details, they are not only cheating the runners, but also making our efforts that much less meaningful.
But anyway, I would really like to hear from you and other measurers on the questions I posed. I'm curious to know whether it's a widespread problem or perhaps more the exception than the rule.