How can I find the Calibration Course associated with a certified course?

If you go to www.rrtc.net you can locate a certified course. Every so often I download the entire course list and do my sorting using Excel.

A search of the list reveals no certified calibration courses in Brooklyn. There is only one certified calibration course in New York City. It’s NY04032KL, and it’s a 1000 footer in Central Park. I must admit I’m surprised at the scarcity. Could be some are listed in Queens or Staten Island or another borough. I didn’t look beyond New York City and Brooklyn.

It is not a lot of work to lay out a calibration course, and I recommend that you do it. Once you are done you will have your own personal calibration course located as close to your home as you can get it. I have mine in the street in front of my house.

In just a few measurements the work will pay off in the time saved in getting back and forth from the cal course. And best of all, it will be your own work, which you can trust.

There is no easy answer to your specific question. By using the search engine you can identify the person who measured the race course, and ask them what they used. You might get satisfaction, but the calibration course may not be certified. Could be it was a one-time-only cal course, never certified. Thus you won't be able to use it.

Thanks,

Central Park might be my best bet. It is not that far and there are really no straight paved surfaces in Prospect Park.

There is actually a 400m course in Central Park (probably the same location as the 1,000 footer) that was used for the Men's Marathon Olympic Trials as well as several other NYC courses. Dave Katz, Hugh Jones & I laid it out in 2007. The paperwork has never been filed, I guess.

A challenge with cal courses in NYC, in spite of its predominant grid-pattern of streets, is the constant traffic (24-7) and the frequent construction repaving. That pretty much limits you to parks or river esplanades, and the former usually have curving roads - the Central Park cal. course is by Engineers' Gate on the East side in the 90s, perhaps the only stretch of Central Park road long enough to accommodate a cal course.

I am not surprised the paperwork has not been filed. I have heard from some certifiers that they have certified a course and I have never received the paperwork(certificate). I hope this doesn't come back to haunt them if a record is set on that course

When I lay out a calibration course, I make a point of creating a certificate and getting in posted on the USATF site.

If any of our certifiers have not filed their certificates, please do so ASP.

Part of that is due to a bit of ambiguity in the Manual - it states that if a cal course is a one-time thing, paperwork needn't be filed. However, unless the course if definitely temporary (e.g. the road is due to be paved) it would seem to make sense to make the course permanent, if for no other reason than to benefit other measurers. Next time I am in the city I will go to the course and landmark it to create a cert. Michael, if you need to use it before then, contact me and perhaps I can describe it to you.

I've seen a number of applications where the measurer has measured the calibration course and completed the documentation- but hasn't drawn a map of the calibration course.

My experience is that it's a lot more difficult to complete the documentation of a calibration course than to draw a map of one. and it's not at all difficult to complete the documentation.

There used to be only one certified calibration course in Chicago as well. Now there are at least four, and anytime I measure in a place where I think a certified calibration course will be of use to other measurers, I usually document it for certification, and definitely encourage other measurers to do the same.

Jim,

Are you saying that you know where a calibration course is in Prospect Park? I would buy you a nice big Brooklyn lunch if you could show me where that is. Central Park is not far, but Prospect Park is close.

Michael,

Here is a Google shot of Prospect Park.

The roads in the park are generally curly, but I found two bits of roadway that look like they would be suitable for 300 meter or 1000 foot calibration courses. Without local knowledge this is as far as I can go.

I suggest you get a helper and lay down a cal course. You’ll save time overall, even if you use it only once. Given that you are thinking of laying down a marathon, I'll bet you'll need at least two or three days to get it done. That's a lot of trips to Central Park.

The possible areas are shown in yellow below.

The perk road is not really that strait there. But Prospect Park West has a newly installed bike lane. It is against the curb and a block from my home. That is were I can do it.

Michael, I might be willing to come down and help you lay out the course, if you don't have a 100' steel tape (they're not always easy to find) and a helper (ditto). For that matter, if you do have a helper or 2, we could make it a seminar - maybe even help w/ the actual course measurement.

BTW, I assume this is for a non-NYRR event, correct?

That would be great.

and no not NYRR, they would not ever return my calls when I asked where their calibration marks were for their certified courses in Prospect Park.

This is for the Brooklyn Marathon on November 20

https://nycruns.com/index.php?...k=individualRegister

OK, drop me an email or call. My contact info is on the rrtc.net site.

Just to keep you all in the loop, this is what I have done.

Hos does this look.

Sorry, It reproduces on the small side. I can send it as an attachment.

A measuring wheel, even when calibrated against a steel tape, doesn't have sufficient accuracy to do a good job of measuring a calibration course. The last inch or so is imprecise. A steel tape is the thing. I suggest you either use your 35 foot steel tape with masking tape intermediate marks or borrow or buy a 100 foot steel tape.

That is what I thought. I will go back out there this afternoon.