Runners from the mainland, Japan and other countries are arriving on Oahu for the 2008 Honolulu Marathon, which starts this Sunday, 14 December with the usual fireworks.
(See the end of this billso.com article for updated information.)
Race officials have pledged that runners will get accurate finish times this year for the race’s ChampionChip system.As I discussed in my billso.com article of 8 March 2008 titled Honolulu Marathon limps to the finish line, the 2007 Honolulu Marathon was marred by heavy rains and other problems that took down the race’s ChronoTrack timing system.
I’m not running the Honolulu Marathon this year, as I’ve concentrated on shorter distances since I ran my sixth and final marathon in 2001. I’m not even running or walking the first 10 kilometers of the course as I did in 2005.
An orange D-tag attached to a runner's shoe
The 2007 edition became an unfortunate experiment with an RFID system that relied on fragile paper-based devices called D-tags that are printed onto a detachable portion of each runner’s race number. Many runners who did follow the instructions managed to break the tags while tucking the devices into their shoelaces. Each D-tag has an adhesive strip, as seen in this picture by dharmabumx. Some runners voided their D-tags by bending or folding the delicate components - even a single fold was enough to break the electronics inside the tag. Other runners failed to remove the D-tag from their race number and then attach the D-tag to their shoe.
Chronotrack posted this YouTube video called ChronoTrack D-Tag Instuctional [sic] on 21 March 2008 with English instructions on attaching a D-tag. It’s interesting that this video appeared after the Honolulu Marathon dropped ChronoTrack from the 2008 race.
Of course, another possible reason the D-tags failed in the 2007 Honolulu Marathon was that many race volunteers and Japanese tour group directors were not told or did not know how to remove and attach the fragile D-tags properly. Few of the runners and volunteers had ever seen a D-tag before, and the instructions and demonstrations provided at the race number pick-up site in the Honolulu Convention Center did not seem to help.
According to Honolulu Marathon officials, there were 21,945 entries earlier this week, and 13,676 or 62% are from Japan. It turns out that proper training before the marathon is just as important for the support staff as it is for the runners.
The 2008 Honolulu Marathon will use ChampionChip systems as they did prior to the 2007 race. Both the ChampionChip and ChronoTrack systems collect timing data from runners during the race. RFID readers are embedded in rubber mats that are laid across the course, usually near important splits like the half-marathon mark. When I run a race, I rely on my split time to help me check my progress against my pre-race plan. If I don’t have my own stopwatch, there’s almost always a race clock or announcer at the split that will have the race or gun time available.
RFID systems help facers record the runners actual time on the course, as there are mats at the starting and finish line. In a large race like the Honolulu Marathon, most runners will cross the starting line several minutes after the starting gun has fired. Runners can use the official chip time provided by the race to enter another race that limits entries to qualified runners. A verified chip time that is delivered within days of the race is quite valuable to serious runners. The 2007 Honolulu Marathon had to improvise a video review system to provide times to finishers months after the race ended.
All each runner has to do is make sure their chip is attached to their show and run across the mat. Most races that use these systems, including Honolulu’s other big running event, the Great Aloha Run, set up testing mats at the race number pick-up site so runners can check their chips and D-tags. When the mat detects a tag, a speaker beeps. In the testing setup, a computer and monitor are available, so runners can make sure their name and number appear in the system.
Why can’t I use my own chip?
Every chip-timed race that I’ve run in Hawaii has required me to rent a chip for the event. But I have my own ChampionChip that I purchased at the 2000 Chicago Marathon and have used at the 2001 Austin Marathon and other mainland races. My chip has its own serial number, and I can update my contact information on the ChampionChip web site when necessary.
billso's ChampionChip
I’ve never been able to use my own ChampionChip in Hawaii. I could ask the race organizers if I could use my own tag, but that’s not the point. The race entry forms in Hawaii don’t even have a field to add my tag number, and the Honolulu Marathon’s FAQ doesn’t address the issue at all.
ChampionChips and D-tags don’t have batteries because their RFID transmitters get power when the runner passes over a charged timing mat. This induction charging method, which relies upon small capacitors built into the chip or tag, provides enough electrical power to get a radio signal from the chip to mat’s RFID receptors. This is yet another reason that the chip or tag must be placed on the shoe, as close as possible to the mat.
The 2008 Honolulu Marathon is requiring participants to buy a commemorative ChampionChip that each runner can keep after the event. The chip cost is included in the race entry fee.
A hard rain’s gonna fall
Diesel generators are usually used to power the mats. In 2007, the generators failed when puddles formed by the heavy rains flooded the system. Here’s another YouTube video from ChronoTrack called ChronoTrack System Test - Water & Rain, and posted on 21 March 2008. The audio track includes several examples of the telltale beep that tells the runner a chip was detected. In practice, the beeps are useless at the start line, as too many runners are moving over the mats. The background noise in the audio is not thunder, just some light wind hitting the microphone.
Notice how the water in the “heavy rain test” is applied to the mat. There is no generator in the video, as the testers are using an extension cord from an AC electrical outlet. The D-tag in the video is immersed in water for a few seconds, but the power system is never tested. We’ve had light rain the this morning in Honolulu, and it’s likely to rain here on Sunday morning, too.
In the 2008 Honolulu Marathon, SportStats is using primary and backup systems with more durable generators at four split locations as well as the start and finish areas. I hope the generators will be placed on dry, covered platforms and not set in the gutter or on the ground. Split times will be available at the marathon’s web site:
- 10 kilometers (6.2 miles)
- half-marathon (13.1 miles)
- 30 kilometer (18.6 miles)
- 40 kilometer (24.8 miles)
See the Star-Bulletin’s article called Marathon perseveres in face of sour climate for more details. The Star-Bulletin’s article identifies the 2007 timing system as ChronoTrax.
Updated 14-Dec-08: It was raining when the starting gun and the fireworks went off at 5 am HT this morning. By 9 am, the rain had stopped in downtown Honolulu.
Updated 13-Dec-08: It’s rained most of the day here in downtown Honolulu.
Of course, we woke up to more rain this morning in downtown Honolulu, and an article from the Honolulu Advertiser called Honolulu Marathon returns to rain-proof timers after ‘07 fiasco. The article provides yet another name for the ChronoTrack system: SAI. Advertiser writer Michael Tsai, also reported that:
- The Honolulu Marathon spent 1200 to 1500 additional man-hours an $50,000 to recover the lost finishing times from the 2007 race
- The Honolulu Marathon sued ChronoTrack for $30,000 to recover those additional costs
- As we reported in this billso.com article on 8 March 2008, the 2007 Las Vegas and Philadelphia Marathons also had significant timing problems related to their ChronoTrack systems.
Updated 12-Dec-08: Here’s the local newspaper articles on yesterday’s storm. No rain during the day, but the rain resumed during the evening.
- Honolulu Star-Bulletin: Rain, pain to remain
- Honolulu Advertiser: Storm wallops Oahu
Updated 11-Dec-08: We’ve had heavy rains and winds all day long on Oahu. At times, the rain has been falling at the rate of 3 inches an hour. See the Honolulu Advertiser for more details. Kapiolani Park, which is the staging ground for the Honolulu Marathon’s finish, will be just as soaked as it was last year, even if it stops raining tonight.
The Star Bulletin has an excellent article in this morning’s edition called Volunteer army about the event’s 4500-member volunteer staff. I’m happy there are so many vounteers each year, but it’s important the volunteers have correct and up-to-date information. I’ve seen other races on the mainland where race volunteers sent runners in the wrong direction and making the course either too long or too short. The Honolulu Marathon is ranked 3rd in size behind the New York City and Chicago events among US marathons.
There’s also an editorial in the same edition called Solid reputation keeps Honolulu Marathon in the running. It reads more like a civic pride piece, although the Star-Bulletin does acknowledge the massive problems of the 2007 Honolulu Marathon.
Images courtesy of dharmabumx and McBadger on Flickr through their Creative Commons licenses.
Related articles and pages on billso.com
- 8 March 2008: Honolulu Marathon limps to the finish line
- 16 April 2008: New reader can track several RFID tags at once
