Posted by Glenn Ribotsky on March 09, 2004 at 08:51:18:
In Reply to: Re: Another NYRR race with a problem... posted by Stephen Kairys on March 08, 2004 at 20:41:45:
There are actually a number of ways to measure a course, but the USAT&F rules are very exacting. Problem is, if a USAT&F certified individual claims to have measured the course in accordance with the standards, the local branch of USAT&F (in this case MAC) is not always good about checking up on it--they basically take the "official" at his/her word.
The discrepancies you note may have to do with how the loop is measured, or with exact starting/stopping point, or (more likely) with whether the whole road can be used for racing (it's supposed to be measured "point to point") or only the bike or running lane (which shortens the distance)--the latter is where the 3.98 distance for the loop for the 50K/50M races comes from. I believe for the others the whole road is used in the measurement.
It's interesting that the link you provided shows so many "certified" courses in Centrl Park--and a lot of them were measured by people I don't know if I'd trust to do it, despite their "certification". (USAT&F/MAC is not in the business of challenging NYRRC measurers--they have enough problems, and NYRRC is by far the more powerful entity.)