April 22nd, 2016, 7:23 pm
QuoteOriginally posted by: tagomaQuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperManchester (UK) marathon too short by 415yds for three years as 24,000 runners have times invalidated26 miles 385 yds less 415yds is what, 25 miles 1730 ydsQuoteblamed an incorrect calibration of the bicycle wheel that is used to measure out the course by an accredited measurerWhat? Can't they double-check ... eh ... eg using a second bicycle wheel or a 21st century measurement tools?indeedmany years ago, I used to know someone whose hobby (for want of a better word, his day job was school teacher) was certifying courses, and he used to tell a story of how he helped measure Boston. It wasn't just him, a group of them did it together, and they competed to see who could get it tightest. If they came across a parked car, they would get off their bikes, lift them up, ride past the car, then lift the bike up again to get back to the curb. The first year he was involved, he claimed one of the elite runners said something like "that course must have been a quarter mile longer than it was last year," and indeed it was because they measured it much tighter.They're supposed to calibrate the bicycle by riding it over a known distance (100m on a running track for example)There's also a stretch factor of what 1% in the US, so that the course as measured has a length of (26 miles 385 yards)+1%, or (26 miles 846 yards)