Some questions....
- mcshame
- Sylvia Ruegger
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Some questions....
Since I've never ran a marathon, I had some questions about what I was reading
The pace bunny. Is this a normal thing at all marathon's? Are their many of them or just or to tell you you are going too slow for the race?
The chip time and gun time. Is the difference between them just the time it takes to get across to start line for races with lots of people? Is the Chip time the official time?
Thanks
The pace bunny. Is this a normal thing at all marathon's? Are their many of them or just or to tell you you are going too slow for the race?
The chip time and gun time. Is the difference between them just the time it takes to get across to start line for races with lots of people? Is the Chip time the official time?
Thanks
These are not just for marathons.
Pace bunnies will sometimes be at 10K races, too, but often at half- and full-marathons. People will often stay with the bunny and the group... at bigger races there might be more than one for a given pace. Smaller races might have only one for every 15-minute block.
Gun time is official time, but some races also have "net time" which is often called "chip time." You wear a little plastic thing that has a computer chip in it that gets coded to include your race number and name. You run over a timing mat at the beginning of the race and at the end of the race and your net time is calculated by subtracting your start mat time from your finish mat time. If you are looking to win awards or anything, you need to start close to the front because they go only by gun time. Some smaller races will use timing chips but only have a mat at the end; this facilitates the listing of the results, but there's no net time, only official time.
Even though gun time is the official time, if you're trying to get a qualifiying time for something like new york or boston, you can use chip time.
Pace bunnies will sometimes be at 10K races, too, but often at half- and full-marathons. People will often stay with the bunny and the group... at bigger races there might be more than one for a given pace. Smaller races might have only one for every 15-minute block.
Gun time is official time, but some races also have "net time" which is often called "chip time." You wear a little plastic thing that has a computer chip in it that gets coded to include your race number and name. You run over a timing mat at the beginning of the race and at the end of the race and your net time is calculated by subtracting your start mat time from your finish mat time. If you are looking to win awards or anything, you need to start close to the front because they go only by gun time. Some smaller races will use timing chips but only have a mat at the end; this facilitates the listing of the results, but there's no net time, only official time.
Even though gun time is the official time, if you're trying to get a qualifiying time for something like new york or boston, you can use chip time.
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One thing I noticed about the Detroit results was that the age group results are ordered by chip time. This is different from most races I have done where your age group placing is ordered by gun time.
The exception tothe gun time/chip time rule is in age group triathlon, which has wave starts so everything is by chip time.
The exception tothe gun time/chip time rule is in age group triathlon, which has wave starts so everything is by chip time.
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oh, yeah, I knew that... I guess that's relevant for age-group awards, but not relevant for the elite runners who all start right at the front of wave 1 (or elite women who start on their own).Bebette wrote:With the 2-wave start, chip times are used for official results of the Boston Marathon.
maybe there will be a move toward age-group placing by chip time for big races, but for overall placing for the actual winners, they'll still go by gun time, I would think.
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They usually wear bunny ears with their goal time written on the ears
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Bunny ears. Check out some of Dave's (dgrant's) pictures from some of the races he's done recently.mcshame wrote:Thanks, that's good information. How are the bunnies identified? A pace number on their back?
At the beginning of the race they'll hold up a sign with their pace (or stand near a sign) so that you can gather together for the start.
Just a warning though... most pacers are really good, but some come in pretty far off the mark. In my first half-m, I considered following the 2:15 pace bunny, but ended up losing him early on.. then found out he came in about 2:05 (we finished at 2:09). In my marathon, the 3:45 pace bunny came in after the 4:00, who was bang on.
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Re: Some questions....
mcshame wrote:The chip time and gun time. Is the difference between them just the time it takes to get across to start line for races with lots of people? Is the Chip time the official time?
One thing I'd mention is that 99.9%* of the time people say what their race time or PB is for a given event/distance, they're referring to their chip time. Don't ever shortchange yourself by saying your guntime.
*That's an official stat. I surveyed every single runner.
Also, always round down! If you run a 2:05:59 half marathon, you ran a 2:05. Always round down!
Re: Some questions....
mcshame wrote:
The pace bunny. Is this a normal thing at all marathon's? Are their many of them or just or to tell you you are going too slow for the race?
Pace bunnies aren't really there to tell you to speed up. They're just a nifty added bonus to help you run at your favourite pace or finish at your ideal time. Usually there's a time (minutes:seconds) written on the bunny's ears, or they might hold up a sign, indicating how long it will take the bunny to finish the race at his/her particular even pace. Pick the one that corresponds to your goal, and go along for the ride. Err, hop. I mean, run.
• Marathons: Berlin 2010 & NYC Marathon 2010 & Toronto 2004 • 30Ks: ATB (Hamilton) 2007 & 2016 & 2017 • Half Marathons: Chilly Half (Burlington) 2007 & More (NYC) 2005 & Scotiabank Waterfront (Toronto) 2004 • 8K: Robbie Burns 2006 • 5Ks: ATB 5k 2009 & 2008 & 2006 & 2005, Beaches Spring Fling (Toronto) 2004 • Craziness: Santa Speedo Run (Toronto) 2006 •
Jo-Jo wrote:They usually wear bunny ears with their goal time written on the ears
Depends on the race. In Philly they are using the Clif Bar/Shot team pacers. They wear team singlets...no ears. You sign up on-line, get a free goodie bag in the mail and can meet your pacers on-line (and at the expo). Plus you get to wear a bib on your back during the race that identifies which pace group you are with. That way the group can stick together etc. The Clif team are doing a series of marathons this way.
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Events in 2018
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Hip replacement on September 10....now doing a variation of the None to Run plan
- mcshame
- Sylvia Ruegger
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Re: Some questions....
dgrant wrote:Also, always round down! If you run a 2:05:59 half marathon, you ran a 2:05. Always round down!
I can forget that math rule very quick. Round down I will...
nick wrote:Jo-Jo wrote:They usually wear bunny ears with their goal time written on the ears
Depends on the race. In Philly they are using the Clif Bar/Shot team pacers. They wear team singlets...no ears. You sign up on-line, get a free goodie bag in the mail and can meet your pacers on-line (and at the expo). Plus you get to wear a bib on your back during the race that identifies which pace group you are with. That way the group can stick together etc. The Clif team are doing a series of marathons this way.
That's exactly how it was in Detroit too (although I don't know if they were sponsor-affiliated or not).
nick wrote:Jo-Jo wrote:They usually wear bunny ears with their goal time written on the ears
Depends on the race. In Philly they are using the Clif Bar/Shot team pacers. They wear team singlets...no ears. You sign up on-line, get a free goodie bag in the mail and can meet your pacers on-line (and at the expo). Plus you get to wear a bib on your back during the race that identifies which pace group you are with. That way the group can stick together etc. The Clif team are doing a series of marathons this way.
Except they don't mail the goody bag to Canada. I signed up online for them at the St. George , Utah Marathon and didn't receive the goody bag. I queried them at the expo and the person I talked to said she didn't know for sure but thoughtr that they only mailed the packets to US addresses.
Yeah, they were sponsored by Bally Total Fitness. They were carrying little signs. In the 3:10 group, they rotated who carried the sign. Near the end, the sign was getting lower, and lower, and ....dgrant wrote:That's exactly how it was in Detroit too (although I don't know if they were sponsor-affiliated or not).
mcshame wrote:MoeMan wrote:They had 'Pace fairies' at the 30K Mid summers night's run this past summer. They wore wings.
I'm curious what the "bunnies" look like in Vegas....
I think that there will no bunnies in Vegas unfortunately. They are very useful for pacing!
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ChrisL wrote:I think that there will no bunnies in Vegas unfortunately. They are very useful for pacing!
Maybe you could win a personal pace bunny at the casino???
Nicholas
Events in 2018
Walking, Yoga, Soccer scrimmages and whatever else I can do
Hip replacement on September 10....now doing a variation of the None to Run plan
Events in 2018
Walking, Yoga, Soccer scrimmages and whatever else I can do
Hip replacement on September 10....now doing a variation of the None to Run plan
- JulyButterfly
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Jo-Jo wrote:They usually wear bunny ears with their goal time written on the ears
The first time I saw a pace bunny was at Angus Glen last year. I said to my friend, "Hey check that guy out - he dressed up like a bunny - doesn't he know halloween was a week ago?" (i'm slow at times)lol
Jenn
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really? that's too bad.oceanp wrote:The Royal Victoria is sponsored by someone other than the Running Room so there aren't any bunnies there.
some non-Running Room races have pace leaders, too though... they might be called different things...like dave said about detroit, and I know in chicago they have a different name, and other ones in canada have other differently named pacers.. the Rattle Me Bones just in Ottawa had pace Skeletons.
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- dwayne_runs_far
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oceanp wrote:Just one other thing - bunnies aren't in all races in Canada. The Royal Victoria is sponsored by someone other than the Running Room so there aren't any bunnies there.
The race director at RVM owns his own shop (Frontrunners) and when I did it in 2002 they had group leaders, just not the RR one's; ie. no bunny ears.
As for Vegas, the local RR here was recruiting people who were going to be bunnies last year.
Dwayne
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