When Runners tie

Have you ever wondered how they know which runner comes first when two runners have identical finish times in race? Wonder, yes, but given the notion much thought, I'd say - no.

That is until last weekend when the Big South results were posted and Myron Lowery and I were given identical finish times.

Now, I do know a little about how times are determined. I know that all finish times are round up to the next full second.

But I didn't know how the timing software handled when runners tie. Who get placed ahead of whom?

So after the race, I set off to find out.

Since Myron and I provided a good example for illustration purposes, I reached out the Dennis Joffe who does the timing for Queen City Timing. If anyone knew how ties were broken, he would. He did the timing for the Big South 5k.

Later in the weekend, I sent off an email to Dennis and he got back to me today.

Here's what I learned.

In deed the timing software does keep a more accurate time for runners than is published in the results.

Actually, it keeps two places better both the 10^th and 100^th place of precision.

Dennis was kind enough to go back and dig up Myron's true finish time 17:29:34 and my finish time which was 17:29:41.

Thus Myron beat me to the finish line by 7 hundredths of a second. If it were any closer, we might think we were running the 100 meter dash.

So the next time, you and another runner have the same time in the results but he is listed ahead of you. The timing software marked his time just a fraction of a second better than yours.

 

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner