I read an article the other day asking whether on-course display clocks are still required for race directors. Press this for a link to the “Road Race Management” article.
In large, long-distance races, organizers would place display clocks at strategic locations along the course. These clocks would show the elapsed time since the starter’s gun fired—the more clocks displayed on the course, the higher the race’s quality.
The Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon has a display clock every 5 km. The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile in Washington, D.C. once had a clock every mile. The JFK 50 Mile has clocks at strategic locations along the course, especially at time cutoffs.
Before GPS watches and inexpensive digital watches, display clocks provided important race-pace information to participants, especially at each mile location.
Before timing tags were used, every runner was assigned a finish time based on the race start. At my first Marine Corps Marathon in 1993, it took me 3 minutes to cross the start line. That year, there were about 12,000 finishers. In those years, the New York City marathon used one-and-a-half levels of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to clear the start line of 30,000 runners in about 12 minutes. Since a runner’s time was determined from the gun, it did not pay to be late.
With fields that large, the clocks were only valid for the first runners. However, with another display clock at the beginning, a later starter could see when their race started and then do the math at each mile to determine their pace per mile. As always, doing math while running will use the negative side of one’s brain.
Of course, at that time, Boston Qualifiers were still based on gun time. A later starter would need to make up the lost time. The clocks along the course would help a person with their intermediate time goals.
Now with new technology, personal times are calculated and can be used for qualifiers. Personal watches can help record mile splits. Except for the elite field, are the on-course display clocks needed?
If clocks are located every mile, they will stand out and can be seen from a distance. These will help amplify mile signs.
Since courses are measured using non-GPS technology, the mile locations are more accurate. A runner needs to understand that the course distance is what is measured, not what they run. The display clocks would give mile split times. And for races that could not afford a clock at every mile, there was a person at each mile calling elapsed times.
This latter method was used for many of our local races.
Rather than memorizing each mile split, I use my Timex Ironman to record a split time at each actual mile.
GPS-based watches have replaced Timex Iroman watches. You can still buy a Timex from its website. However, I have not seen one in a store for many years.
GPS watches can provide audible pace information and vibrate when you reach each mile split. However, most people cannot run the measured course, which is the shortest possible route, and GPS is not accurate in our city’s layout. The watch can tell you how fast you ran and what you ran. They cannot sync up with the official measured-mile locations. Display clocks can give one’s official pace to override the GPS pace.
It’s been years since I’ve heard mile splits being called. On-course display clocks are an expense to race organizers and are on the way out. As they remove clocks from the course, the entry fee still will not be reduced.
Will you notice if a race you have run in the past no longer has display clocks on the course? I usually do not look at my watch at each split. However, I notice the 5 km split clocks on the Historic Half. I would miss the visual motivator. Though I did not notice how spaced out the clocks were at the Marine Corps Marathon this past fall, I remember seeing some on the course. Does this mean they are becoming meaningless to me?