Originally Posted by
Skipjacks
How would course cutting cause a time not to register? (I'm not arguing with you. I have never run a marathon and have no desire to ever try. I have no idea how the timing works. I'm just curious.)
The timer system registers the RFID tag when the racer passes the sensor at the start and again at the end. Your race time is the difference between those 2 values.
If you cut the course and finishes way early, wouldn't the sensor still register the RFID tag and just give you a shorter time?
Or do they have other sensors along the route that have to be triggered for the final number to count?
I don't know specifically, I don't run either. My understanding is that marathons will often have multiple timing mats, partly to cut down on this sort of thing.
It is odd that *no* time registered at all, so I'm not discounting a chip malfunction. It just seems fishy is all.
But seriously, check out Marathon Investigation. It's really good stuff, plus it makes me feel better about cycling -- at least when we cheat we just take drugs to go faster, we don't skip parts of the course!