Bucks County Marathon
Almost all on a canal towpath, so flat, no traffic, and out & back, so one ride counts as two. Looks like a great course, might consider running it myself next year.
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I'm going to guess getting the detailed tirangulation on all of the splits and drawing the map took significantly longer than getting the counts. Quite an impressive, detailed piece of work.
It's the standard Bill Belleville always hits, and sets the bar pretty high for the rest of us.
Wow he got all that on one page! I need to take some lessons off Bill. Very good job Bill.
Nice work!
This map is a beauty, for certain. For my personal taste, it has too much information on a single page. When I lay out courses that are not from my own maps, I nearly always cut out the timing points text, enlarge it, and paste it into new documents. This makes it easier to locate points in the dark. As fine as this map is, if this is all the course layout team has to go by on race day, it could be a challenging read.
I will take a single sheet with all the info on it, any day (or early-morning). Maybe Negative Nancy 
should concede he is getting older, and get some "readers". I increase the strength of my reading glasses every few years, and I have no problem reading this map. Just sayin', Lyman. 
should concede he is getting older, and get some "readers". I increase the strength of my reading glasses every few years, and I have no problem reading this map. Just sayin', Lyman.
Seems to me this may be a matter of personal preference, Duane. When races I am associated with use inexperienced personnel for course layout, mistakes are made often as not. I often hear that it is difficult to read maps in dim light. Yes, flashlights help. I do use reading glasses. I have no problem reading it. However, reading it and using it to full advantage on race day seem to me to be two different considerations. I am not just talking about myself here.
I understand the convenience of having everything on one page. Obviously, Bell Bellevue did as good a job with this particular map as anyone could, I can guess. The term I once heard to describe a single page with this much data on it is "too busy".
I recently measured a 5K XC course for certification that traversed several open field areas where defining the path required a lot of interim measurements and map insets. There were way too many insets to include on a single page, even separate from the map. Including all this data on one page would have required a magnifying glass the size of a bathroom mirror to render this data legible to anyone.
I suspect the issue of too much for a single page has been thoroughly discussed in the past. I am not familiar with the reasons for confining everything to a single page. What are the reasons for this restriction?
I understand the convenience of having everything on one page. Obviously, Bell Bellevue did as good a job with this particular map as anyone could, I can guess. The term I once heard to describe a single page with this much data on it is "too busy".
I recently measured a 5K XC course for certification that traversed several open field areas where defining the path required a lot of interim measurements and map insets. There were way too many insets to include on a single page, even separate from the map. Including all this data on one page would have required a magnifying glass the size of a bathroom mirror to render this data legible to anyone.
I suspect the issue of too much for a single page has been thoroughly discussed in the past. I am not familiar with the reasons for confining everything to a single page. What are the reasons for this restriction?
The one-sheet-of-paper requirement dates back to the early 1980’s. At that time everything was kept on paper, not in computer files. Ken Young kept the list at that time, and put out an annual printed book of certified courses. It was about a half-inch thick, and each course listed took two lines.
When I began keeping the list I noted that numbers were increasing, and I looked for a way to keep the size of the book to a minimum. By condensing the course number, and substituting “drop” and “separation” for the previous “start-finish-high-low” elevations I was able to shrink the data so it all fit on one line.
It has remained that way since, even though we now have computers to do the heavy lifting.
One good reason to have the course map on one piece of paper is that one document defines what is certified, not two or three. It is usually not hard to get the course map to contain start, finish, and TA locations all on one sheet. A list of splits can be on another piece of paper.
In fact, no listing of splits is required at all, if those splits are not measured or certified. Most people include them though.
When I began keeping the list I noted that numbers were increasing, and I looked for a way to keep the size of the book to a minimum. By condensing the course number, and substituting “drop” and “separation” for the previous “start-finish-high-low” elevations I was able to shrink the data so it all fit on one line.
It has remained that way since, even though we now have computers to do the heavy lifting.
One good reason to have the course map on one piece of paper is that one document defines what is certified, not two or three. It is usually not hard to get the course map to contain start, finish, and TA locations all on one sheet. A list of splits can be on another piece of paper.
In fact, no listing of splits is required at all, if those splits are not measured or certified. Most people include them though.
Lyman, I understand your position. Just pulling your chain.
While I prefer everything on one sheet, I understand the need (occasionally) to use two sheets. If we endeavor to put everything on one sheet, but occasionally have to use two sheets, that is fine. What I would not want to see, though, is habitually making maps 2 pages. Most of the time it is easy to put all info on one sheet, and we should strive to achieve that result.
While I prefer everything on one sheet, I understand the need (occasionally) to use two sheets. If we endeavor to put everything on one sheet, but occasionally have to use two sheets, that is fine. What I would not want to see, though, is habitually making maps 2 pages. Most of the time it is easy to put all info on one sheet, and we should strive to achieve that result.
To be honest, Bill's Phila Marathon map has included several pages of details of turnarounds and mile locations in the past.
quote:Originally posted by Jim Gerweck:
To be honest, Bill's Phila Marathon map has included several pages of details of turnarounds and mile locations in the past.
... Ahah.