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Obviously in the grand scheme of things it’s not important of time position etc.
My 14 year old did his first park run 5k yesterday as some extra training ( he’s already in a running club)
I counted him in as coming 11th with a time of 16m 40sec. However when looking at the results online his time and position were different (18th and 18m43s) is it a question of who hands the barcodes first and how fast they read your personal barcode ?
Could someone in the know please explain?
This isn’t a humble brag about how fast he is - already know that ! Even if he was 18th thats still a great personal goal out of 151 runners.
Thanks in advance
The barcode you are given at the finish shows your position... you then take that position barcode and your personal barcode and they scan them to match. I always forget which they scan first, but if it was done in the wrong order I guess you could end up with someone else place (not necessarily just 1 up or down, as the scanners are a way from the finish, and they don't have to be scanned in order). The marshal in my experience are all very good at making sure you present them in the right order - I think the system might even give an error if you don't.
Its a very simple, but very clever system. In the years I've been doing Parkrun I've not had any problems, but I'm not saying its completely bomb proof.
When did you start your timer? Everyones time starts from the "gun" - there is no "chip" timing at parkrun as there sometimes is at bigger events.
I would have a look at the results and see who was 11th... possible you have the wrong personal barcode?
The barcode you are given at the finish shows your position… you then take that position barcode and your personal barcode and they scan them to match. I always forget which they scan first
@unfitgeezer, Firstly, your son is rapid!
Parkrun event director here and the above is correct. In theory you scan the persons barcode first and the finish token second (face before place), but the new systems that came in after lockdown generally sorts them out whichever order they are scanned.
Occasionally the scanners don’t pick something up or there is an issue with the uploading which can cause anomalies with the results.
If you email the event directly they’ll likely sort it out as they can edit results after the event. A screenshot of your Strava feed or similar can be helpful.
But how does it know your time? The barcodes are scanned some time after the finish. The handful I've done there have been multiple long queues ti get scanned. So I can see how it would sort order of finishing, but what determines time?
But how does it know your time?
@40mpg, as you cross the finish lines the timers press a button on their phones (previously a stop watch but we’ve now gone fully app based), so they know that the 40th finisher finished at say, 31:21:11.
You the get given a finish token that should correspond with your finishing place, hence they ask you to stay in line when waiting for your finish token.
When you have your personal barcode scanned along with the finish token, the app then knows that the 40th finisher was John Smith.
When the event is finished the run director will then upload both the scanners files and the timers files to a piece of software that combines them and says that John Smith finished 40th with a time of 31:21:11.
Hope that makes sense.
When you run past the finish line the timer keepers all press a button on the 'timers'. This clocks the time and the position.
You are then encouraged to "STAY IN ORDER" as you walk down the funnel towards the barcode people.
At the end of the funnel you are given a barcode which is essentially your finish position AND time (hence why it is important to "STAY IN ORDER" when in the funnel)
You then hand the finish token and your personal barcode to the scanners. They scan them together and the time/position is then locked to you.
However, it can go wrong;
- If people swap positions in the funnel (run across the line knackered and then stop to recover while others bunch up behind you and eventually one or two will pass you)
- If 'lots' of people cross the line at the same time the time-keepers may press the button too many (or not enough) times.
- The scanners may not scan you properly (in the old days this was an issue with the actual hardware especially in the rain, now the App on smartphones is great at spotting issues, but not perfect).
- Consolidating the results was a time consuming process with lots of manual intervention required. Things have improved a lot, but there are still humans involved so things can go a bit awry.
My Two Penneth;
- It's a free event. Don't get too hung up on your time/position. All the volunteers are giving their time for free. If things are not 100% just smile, say thanks to them and walk away...
- Volunteer for a few roles on the finish line. Most Parkruns are always running short on volunteers until the last minute. It helps them, gives something back to the community and will help you understand the process so you know what the challenges/frustrations are for the timers/volunteers
- Use Strava/Garmin/ETC to record your time if you are worried about it.
- Enjoy! It's a community event, not an Olympic trial.
PS - What he said 😀
The above is a perfect summary.
And please volunteer, we’re always grateful of the help.
Thanks Lunge for the answer
😊
Volunteering doesn't have to be a big commitment either. That week when you're injured? Just ping them a message to see if they need a hand, you get to be useful and see your mates there too. A few of those makes a difference
Appeal to the stewards, and if that fails there's always the CAS.
@lunge @bentandbroken many thanks guys. Unfortunately I'm too bent and broken to run (not that I've ever done much) but have done a handful of parkruns in the past. Its an amazing event and proves what a community can do.
Also no parkrun remotely near where I live now 😒
16m 40sec was 11th place. WOW. who the hell else was racing?? Where was this?! impressive
Any complaints and we offer them their money back. 🙂
It's easy to get 1 or 2 positions out. A time keeper with an enthusiastic trigger finger, people ducking out of the funnel, accidentally hand 2 tokens out, tokens not sorted properly from the previous week
It's usually pretty good but if you're after chip timing accuracy then find a paid for race
Jeez I asked a quick question of how the timing works as I didn’t know and the lynch mob are all out with pitch forks.
Give it a rest !
Yes he’s fast however running is the only thing he really cares about, it’s his super power of ADHD and Autism.
He’s out every morning before school 5k
Trains with his club twice a week and competes every other weekend.
He’s never wanted to do a park run before due to the amount of people that attend. He really surprised me on Friday and asked if he could do one I wasn’t going to say no, he had a great time and really enjoyed it so much so he wants to do one next weekend.
He is fully aware it’s not competitive but fun. We just couldn’t work out how the timings worked. Of course I’m not going to ask to have his time changed what sort of knob would do that!
Feel free to get back on your pitch forks
@lunge thanks once again for clarifying
Jeez I asked a quick question of how the timing works as I didn’t know and the lynch mob are all out with pitch forks.
Give it a rest !
I think you're over reacting. I've just read the full thread and there are no pitchforks. Just people explaining.
Quite a few different people explaining, which may give the impression that people are at you. But they're not. There were just a lot of people answering your question in a pretty reasonable way.
…perhaps pitch forks was an overreaction.
Appreciate all the answers,
As you were…
🙄
We have had people complain that their time was 1sec diff to their Garmin time, so those people do exist.
Maybe suggest he goes back next week, as he's got a target to beat now!.
I just typed this; "Can he go back next week, as he’s now got a target to beat"
And then I saw this; "he had a great time and really enjoyed it so much so he wants to do one next weekend"
I love Parkrun for this kind of reaction 🙂
We would welcome him at Moors Valley (assuming that is not where he ran this weekend)
16m 40sec was 11th place. WOW. who the hell else was racing?? Where was this?! impressive
Quite a few park runs are like that. There are some serious park runners. At one point I got to 19.01 and was tenth I think... a national cross country was on that week if I recall.
Pro tip scan the race calendar for races nearbye, it's free bumps up the results list 😂
OP it's not unreasonable to let them know about the discrepancy, it would be unreasonable to go in kicking and screaming about it but just saying you think there is an error no one is going to think you are being a dick.
It’s a community event, not an Olympic trial.
I know parkrun HQ wouldn't like this answer, but there's nothing wring with treating like a race, a plenty at the pointy end do. If I fancy it, I certainly put a race level effort into it some weeks.
That for me is the joy of the event, I can go and thrash out a sub-20 (not as quick as the OP's son!) whilst my Mom plods round in 40 minutes or so. Both of us get cheered on every step and have a great time.
OP, if your son is ever near Dudley then pop up to our event, with that time he'd likely win the thing!
Go on, give us the name of the parkrun where 11th place was 16m40s.
It's not mentioned in this roundup of the fastest parkruns on Saturday, and it's not Bushy or Cardiff either (the other obvious fast ones).
The above implied, it is possible your timing was right and the officials' was out by accident. I have a course PB on one tough parkrun of 17:07 and out of the 49 times I've done that event, I've only got within 25s of that time twice. Makes me think they must have started the stopwatch late.
16m 40sec was 11th place. WOW. who the hell else was racing?? Where was this?! impressive
16:01 was the winning time at our local one on Saturday...
“ but if it was done in the wrong order I guess you could end up with someone else place ”
It’s not possible to scan in the wrong order. The barcodes have different formats. Even if you present both simultaneously it’ll pop them in The right places.
I’m a regular volunteer
16m 40sec was 11th place. WOW. who the hell else was racing?? Where was this?! impressive
Last one I did I was second in 18:01😁And was beaten by a man with a pushchair🤣🤣🤣🙈
And was beaten by a man with a pushchair
Hasn't @turboferret of this parish got a ridiculously fast time with a pushchair? I'm sure he's done it in 16 something?