Charting the Course

Here is one of those interesting stories that happens behind the scenes that most people don't know (and probably don't really care) about...

A 10-K (kilometer) road race is approximately 6.2 miles. But how do they measure the course? In a car? With GPS? Nope...they do it the old fashioned way. On a bike.

In order for a race's course to be certified by USA Track and Field the course must be measured by very specific standards, listed here. To make a long story short, in order to guarantee that every runner runs AT LEAST 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles, the shortest possible path from start to finish must be measured. From the USATF certification guidelines: "You might envision the shortest possible route as a string, stretched tightly along the course so that it comes within 30 cm (one foot) of all corners, straight through S-turns, and diagonally between corners when crossing a street. You should measure the course following the same route as that hypothetical string."

Why is this interesting, and who is the guy in the picture up there? Well...as those of you here in Atlanta probably know, the drought here in Georgia has forced the Peachtree Road Race to alter its course this year. So that means the course had to be re-certified. Jack Grosko, a long time Peachtree Road Race volunteer was out early Sunday morning, riding an old 10-speed bike down Peachtree Street, certifying the new course. You can read all about it here.

If you want to see the USATF certification for the "old" Peachtree course, you can click the "map" link here. Fancy, huh?

By the way, this is the t-shirt design I voted for this year. Of course, in 11 years of the Peachtree Road Race I don't think I've ever picked a winner.

Joy and I will be out with 54,998 of our closest friends running the Peachtree on July 4th. Who else is running?