This was sent to Measurement News in April, but it has yet to appear
YEAR 2004 USATF MEASUREMENT ACTIVITY
This summary is based on the USATF course list as it existed on April 21, 2005. It was assumed that all of the year 2004 courses had been received, and indeed few have been received since then. Here is how we did last year:
Most active certifier: Jay Wight – 130 (124 in 2003)
Most active measurer: Chuck Hinde, with 51 (54 in 2003)
Most active state: Texas, with 162 courses certified (158 in 2003)
Measurers active in 2000: 278 (272 in 2003)
State with most active measurers: Texas - 21 (21 in 2003)
Courses certified in 2004: 1387 (1287 in 2003)
New measurers in 2004: 57 (57 in 2003)
NOTE: 2004 BREAKS THE ALL-TIME RECORD FOR COURSES CERTIFIED!
LENGTHS OF COURSES CERTIFIED IN 2004
Length Number Percent
5 km 660 47.6
10 km 195 14.1
Half Marathon 104 7.5
Calibration 100 7.2
Marathon 93 6.7
8 km 37 2.7
1 mi 34 2.5
5 mi 29 2.1
4 mi 27 1.9
10 mi 16 1.2
Other 92 6.6
A note on how the information was compiled: The course list was used without any editing, and massaged using the various sorting and table-making capabilities of Microsoft Excel. Thus, several distances listed on the same certificate will each count as a separate course. Mike Wickiser noticed this last year, saying:
“I differ from your calculation for most active certifier. While Tom McBrayer certified 132 distances, 20 of those were dual distance certs. Jay Wight issued 124 measurement certificates. Going over the list, it appears about 12 of Jay's certs could have been combined (same race name with 5k/10k distances). This brings Jay & Tom into a dead heat with 112 each.” This same sort of thing will probably be present in this year’s review. With a world full of injustice, you might as well get your share from your friends.
In this summary only the surnames of measurers are used. Thus those who share a surname will move higher on the list than those who do not. Using first initials would partially rectify this, but we do have two “D White” measurers, operating in several states. Perhaps there are more.
Calibration courses count as much as full-length race courses. Should they be included? How about giving more credit for marathons than 5 km courses? Lots of things are possible.
Also, as in any large database, the course list contains errors. They are constantly being found and corrected, but any errors in the listing will find their way into the yearly summary.
So, what you see is almost, but not quite, completely accurate…………………….Pete Riegel
A comprehensive report is available. Send an email to me if you want a copy.
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