Timing chips are not very cool after all.

When I looked up the results of the Sage Rat Race online, they showed me in 3rd place instead of second. It didn’t really matter to me that much, but I was curious how something so sleek as timing chips could be WRONG. SO, I emailed the race people. Here’s what they said:

“Welcome to the world of chip timing. With chip timing we can time the race from the time the runners crossed the start line to the time they crossed the finish line. This is the way we timed the Rat Run. What happened here is Siena Noe started a little over 12 seconds after Shaina White did, and then sometime during the race, passed Shaina. At the finish line Shaina, caught up to Siena and passed her, but did not increase the gap enough to over come the 12 seconds. So while it looked a little goofy a finish line, the results are correct.”

So I passed her fair and square, but she still beat me on a technicality because I was standing closer to the front of the group at the start and I touched the timing mat 12 seconds before she did. I didn’t beat her by more than 12 seconds at the end. Boo. Technically I was 3rd, but if there hadn’t been timing chips to mess with numbers, I would’ve been second. How are you supposed to race like that? Next time I’ll be starting at the BACK of the pack! Oh well.

New conclusion about timing chips: they take all the fun and excitement out of a good, old-fashioned footrace.