Distance Accuracy in Races

For single sport races such as a 5k, 10k, half marathon, 40k time trial, etc...I expect race distances to be accurate as people often go for PRs or benchmark time goals.  If you advertise yourself as an accurate course, it should be accurate.  Now if we are talking about a 5k fun run, Race for the Cure, or something like that...then no big deal as people are generally not targeting those events as a race nor is the race director handling it as such.

For triathlons, I allow much more of a leash.  Maybe +-10%.  I don't think PRs matter as much in triathlon as courses can vary so much.  Beach starts vs. wade starts, how big is transition, swim buoy placement etc.  

In general though, most race directors post the course maps online.  So you can map those courses out yourself if accuracy is important to you before signing up.  With exception to the swim of course...which always seems to vary.  But at least you can get an idea prior how seriously the RD takes course accuracy.  Some are very picky about it, some really don't care much. 

If you are anal about distances I suggest sticking to the track.  I would venture a guess that almost no local triathlon courses, and damn few regional courses have the swim, bike, and run ALL correct in the advertised distances.....if you want to go "engineer" on the subject of distance in triathlon courses I will say ZERO courses are correct to the level you are talking about.    Swims are notoriously long or short.

It really doesn't matter because it the wind comes up, or the lake level is lower or higher, or the buoy becomes untethered, or any number of other things it will be off.  Just race......you'll enjoy it more.

lets hope they anchor the buoys well. I did a race once where the turn buoy floated away, and we just turned whenever someone in a boat started shouting at us. How's that for accurate

At least for USATF certified road courses; the distance measured is always the absolute shortest distance through the course. (IE. Running all of the tangents for example)

The idea is that the course is measured so that it is AT LEAST the distance of the race. A competitor who can find that minimum path will run the full distance, competitors that don't will always run longer. (I am good at running tangents but I still typically run about 26.4 miles for a marathon as measured by my garmin)

My suspicion is that with the Triathlon (USAT Certified), courses are not measured as accurately mostly because the only records that count are for that course. ITU races may be different but I agree completely with what others have said, "DON"T COUNT ON IT' when it comes to course accuracy.

In addition to the difficulties of measuring OWS distances, there is also the added factor of transition distances. Moving from Water to land usually includes some distance of running to the chip mat (For T1) and then a  bunch more running through transition.

The only reliable comparisons I have been able to make are when I run the same course year over year. If the Course changes, then the comparisons are no longer valid.

Some races use GPS.  I've seen some local races where the RD was on the beach with the guys that were ready to take the buoys out using jet skis.  The RD just pointed out in the ocean and said...put one buoy over there about 150 yards out, and another one over there about the same distance out from shore.  He didn't give them any sort of cross reference landmarks.  Just pointed his finger and told them to estimate 150 yards.

As mentioned, the USATF procedure to certify a course is based on running the shortest distance possible, i.e., runnng the tangents, and actually measuring the course with a calibrated bicycle wheel versus any electronic means.  They have a procedure manual on their website that spells it out.  It's a lot of work to do it properly. 

If I wear my GPS running watch on my bike to compare against my bike computer/wheel sensor, over a 25 mile ride they'll normally be off by around 0.25 miles. 

Mark

how about the part where they fail to mention for nationals and worlds that they are adding like 1000m of running to and from transition to a race with only a 5k run.

Don't worry about course accuracy, you can usually find out beforehand via the internet what the actual distance is, and pace accordingly.

Haha! So true with some of that. Learn to treat the distances as nominal values and save yourself the headaches.

I know somebody who LOVES loooong transition runs.