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I received an application from a race director who measured her own half and full marathons. She wants the two races to start in the same place, and in order to do that she had to make the half 15 meters longer than the standard distance. So far not a problem. But then she put a note at the bottom of the map that says "Official measured distance: 21.113km."

I'm not sure what to do. I can't really put 21.0975km as the distance on the certificate since it will disagree with the map. But I am concerned with the name of the race on the certificate being Whatever Half Marathon and then listing the distance on the certificate as 21.113km. Anyone who sees the certificate, and the map for that matter, will think the USATF doesn't know how long a half marathon is.
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But should I suggest she remove that statement about the measured course length from the map? I don't think this is a big deal but I'm just wondering what people think. You could even make the argument that you should always put that on the map when the course is longer than required.

I suppose it is also possible that folks who look at the map may think she is showing the length of course without the SCPF.
Given the feedback we regularly get from GPS-wearing runners telling us our courses are long, I'd be really hesitant to certify a course at a distance significantly shorter than it is.

Is 15 meters over a half marathon "significant"? If it was the same proportion in a 5K I'd say no, but the longer the course gets, the more seconds it takes to run the proportional extra distance.

I'm sympathetic to Mark's concerns- but it isn't USATF that is calling this course a half marathon. It's the race director.

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