The World Championships Marathon course setup crew could be fantastic advisors for future Championships. I am sure there were many hours of planning and implementing to ensure the race day(s) course integrity. This World Championship course team clearly followed The World Athletics Technical Rules, Book C-C2.1, Course 55.3 – Note(iii): If it is intended that parts of the course on race day will be defined by the use of non-permanent equipment such as cones, barricades, etc. their positioning shall be decided not later than the time of the measurement and the documentation of such decisions shall be included in the measurement. As course measurers we have too often seen race day road course restrictions not set out correctly. The World Championships Marathon demonstrated a cooperative team effort between all important course related activities. Bravo!
The pre-verification of this Championships course seems equally integral to any high-level road race competition. Interesting, of all the active certified courses only 40 are listed as Verified Passed. I wonder how many of the USATF Road Race Championships are Verified Passed?
From the USATF website:
Rules for Verification of Road Courses
The following rules pertain to the verification of road running courses when records are set. This may require re-measurement by an expert measurer before or after the race. For USATF championship road races, the course must be verified in advance of the race, so it will not require a post-race re-measurement if a world or national open record is set. Please note that the Drop and Separation requirements in USATF Rule 265.4 pertain only to acceptability of records but will not prevent a course from being certified.
- USATF Competition Rules, Article V (Records), Rule 265 (Rules Applicable to Long Distance Running Events): 4 (Road Records)
USATF Rule 265.4 is not self-contained, but refers to IAAF Rule 260.28:
- IAAF Competition Rules, Chapter 5 (Technical Rules), Section X (World Records), Rule 260 (World Records), 28 (Road Running Events)