CT: What has been your experience with the swim leg of your Triathalons?

Mark: This is where the technology really shines. I am able to deliver instant live swimmer updates and accountability reports to the race director and Coast Guard to make sure the event is safer. We timed the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim and swimmer accountability was the number one thing. We were able to provide a service, which is unmatched, to our race director using the ChronoTrack Technology and the Nano station.

CT: How are you putting the NanoStations to use?

Mark: We have used the Nano stations for many of our Triathlons. For The Flat As A Pancake Triathlon in Staten Island where the finish was on the board walk at least 700 yards away from our parked timing truck, we nailed all the finish results instantly with the Nano station. We also found a great inverter/battery combo unit that powers the Nano all day long.

CT: With all these Tri’s have you ordered your MiniTrack system?

Mark: We are ordering six MiniTrack systems to use for all our Tri’s. The work crews are excited about the smaller light weight gators and controller. This will be a perfect solution for our races and we are excited to get them.

CT: Do you have any other ChronoTrack success stories?

Mark: Yes, we had a great B-Tag experience in Downey Town, Pennsylvania at the Good Neighbor Day Race. This race uses a USATF certified 5k course and offers three distances, a 5K, a 10K, or a 15K distance. They traditionally have about a 25% error rate where racers don’t run the race they signed up for and it was really a timing nightmare before they hired us. The first thing we did was to start with a big start line and directly after the start we split the line it into a “Lap counting gators section” and “Finish line gators.” The B-Tags worked flawlessly and we were able to upload the lap data instantly to provide an error rate calculation and accurately verify each race winner was correct.

Jeroen has many years of experience in the timing industry and will be working closely together with Bas van Beek from the ChronoTrack office in The Netherlands.

“I am very pleased to start with ChronoTrack, this is a great opportunity for me to work for the market leader in UHF timing technologies. I believe ChronoTrack is doing a good job in listening and offering the right products to the timers. I am proud to be part of it!”.

Jeroen can be contacted at:

We are proud to report some amazing success as the next generation of timing, the B-Tag, is rolling out at key races around the country… Cooper River Bridge Run, SunTrust National Marathon, U.S. National Snowshoe Championships, Cohasset Rotary Road Race by the Sea 10K, CareFirst BlueCross and BlueShield Half Marathon and many others!

What race directors are saying…

“It worked like clockwork.  I have been the race director at Cooper River for 20 years and have seen the evolution of scoring and with the B-Tag we have had less problems than we have in any other year. We used the D-tag for two years and loved it but we always thought the tag should be in the bib. With the B-tag we saw a marked improvement. We are proud to be one of the first and larger races to use the B-tag. We value technology and are delighted its here. It has been a long time coming and its here to stay.”
Julian Smith, Race Director, 33rd Annual Cooper River Bridge Run: 33,000 finishers

“As for the new ChronoTrack timing tags, I’ve been stunned to watch the development of race timing over all my years running. Gone are the days of popsicle sticks and tear-tags in the finish chute.  The US National Showshoe Championships was my first experience with the new B-Tag. I had a number of guesses about why the timing tags might be on our bibs instead of on our shoes.  Whatever the reason, the device was the most simple yet: Put on your number, and run. There was nothing additional to affix. There was nothing to remember. You just had to pin your bib to your shirt, as with any other race.”
Jeff Dengate, Web Producer, Runner’s World

“My take on the B tag would be just as I stated to Granite State…a nine out of ten and when the cost eventually comes down it will be a 10 in my opinion.  We had no reports of any errors or missed times attributed to the B tag operation.  For a “little” race like Cohasset, I feel, it was well worth being able to offer the convenience of this technology to our runners and volunteers.”
Brad Goodwin, Race Director – Cohasset Rotary Road Race by the Sea 10K

What race timers are saying…

“GSRS timed the SunTrust National Marathon and accompanying CareFirst BlueCross and BlueShield Half Marathon in Washington, D.C., on March 20, using the new ChronoTrack B Tag. We had great results with the new tag and have consequently advised all of our 2010 events to switch to it. The ease of application was a big hit with the runners and organizers and it improved our ability to time all runners successfully.”
Bob Teschek, Granite State Race Services – Newport, NH

“We are using the B-Tag this weekend for a 1200 person 8k race. The interesting thing is that we are timing the race for a competitor timer, since his new (non-ChronoTrack) equipment didn’t arrive when promised. He was left out in the cold. I’m glad to have been able to help out.”
ChronoTrack Timer

“I timed and directed the Marine Corps Special Operations 8k Mud Run. Our runners went through low mud crawls, swamp, streams etc. I used B tags to see how they would hold up. They were great! I had 100 percent of those crossing the start lines were timed at the finish line. We had 450 runners and I was prepared to score the old fashioned way but had no need for that nonsense. Surprisingly, some bibs looked clean at the finish but it must have been from when they went through the stream. I am very pleased to report we had absolutely no problems and the runners loved the ease of picking up bibs and running without worrying about anything else.“
Mike Marion, Atlantic Coast Timing – Midway Park, NC

“Just to let you know the B-tags are fabulous. I did the Great Race of Agoura Hills in California this past weekend with almost 7000 runners in five different events that all ran at the same time.  Two half marathons, 5k, 10k, and even a Kids 1 Mile run with three different starting points.”
Bill Callanan, Tri-A-Run – Las Vegas, NV

Upcoming B-Tag Events

ChronoTrack is proud to feature the B-Tag at the upcoming events:

• Boston Athletic Association 5K – April 18th, 2010
• Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon & miniMarathon – April 24, 2010
• Crazylegs Classic 8K – April 24, 2010
• Long Island Marathon – May 1 & 2, 2010
• Capital City Half Marathon – May 1, 2010
• Broad Street Run – May 2, 2010
• OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon – May 8, 2010
• Miles For Moffitt – May 15, 2010
• Cleveland Rite Aid Marathon – May 16, 2010
• The Spring Lake Five – May 29, 2010
• Boston’s Run to Remember – May 30, 2010

Tens of thousands of runners and race directors have experienced how the B-Tag is changing the game! See why more world-class races use ChronoTack – www.chronotrack.com

ChronoTrack Systems has established itself as the industry leader in race timing by revolutionizing timing technology with the introduction of the D-Tag. The single-use D-Tag has proven to runners and race directors alike that reliable timing can be easy, accurate and cost-effective. As a result of its success, ChronoTrack timed over 4 million athletes at 1,200 races in 2009.

“The top priority of the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K is to provide the greatest running experience possible for our participants. ChronoTrack has proven its ability to provide the most accurate and reliable timing with a single-use device which eases up finish line congestion and eliminates potential fees incurred through the process to return devices. It’s a win-win for the race and our participants,” said Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski.

ChronoTrack provides an ease of use to the runner and a hassle free experience. The single-use tag does away with the worries for racers at the finish line and provides a tremendous value to Race Directors. In December of 2009 ChronoTrack won Runner’s World Readers Choice award for “Best Invention OR Trend in Racing”. Runner’s World writes, “The growth of relays and half-marathons is great for running, but disposable timing chips is making the world a better place. They make racing less stressful, bring faster and more accurate results, and eliminate choke points at the finish line. And the icing on the cake: NO more lost chip fees.”

ChronoTrack is the market leader in timing systems technology. They revolutionized the industry with the use of UHF RFID technology. In 2008 they launched their single-use timing tag called the D-Tag. They redefined the industry standard for ease of use and accuracy with their UHF RFID Controllers and Tag systems. There market prowess was successfully demonstrated in 2009 at The ING New York City Marathon collecting more than 1.1 millions times over 24 timing points along the course. ChronoTrack has timed just over 4 million athletes and 1,200 races in 2009.

“We listened to our customers. We have worked on this product for over 18 months and have tested prototypes exhaustively. This will set the industry standard, guaranteed. Our network of timers, events and athletes told us that we needed to come to market with a product they can use without fail and we are proud to have met their demand.” says ChronoTrack President and CEO Daniel Howell.

ChronoTrack also launched its new MiniTrack Timing system at the conference. This pint size but full featured system comes with a 12 foot timing line and has the power to drive a full 14 foot timing line as easily as its bigger brothers the 400 and 800 systems. This technology will maximize a timer’s ability to cost effectively offer more splits and to reach the triathlon and adventure race market with one simple cost effective solution. This system also includes hot swappable 18 volt lithium power tool batteries to maximize ease of use and reduce cost. These batteries can be purchased at any major home improvement store.

“This MiniTrack Timing system by itself is everything a timer needs to score triathlons or the smaller 5K and 10K races. It is also fully compatible with and can be attached to the larger 800 and 400 series controllers. Now a timer can cost effectively offer more splits and backup lines which bring more value to their larger events. Its functionality and compact size are a perfect combination of cost, form and function” says Bob Finnegan Director of Business Development.

ChronoTrack expands its network of strategic partners to add value to races and diversify service to drive participant experience. Utilizing powerful technologies from companies such as Impinj Inc, MPI, CradlePoint, Bazu Sports and Active.com ChronoTrack offers a one stop solution to all timing and technology needs.

ChronoTrack is the market leader in timing systems technology. They revolutionized the industry in 2008 with their disposable timing tag called the D-Tag®. They redefined the industry standard with their UHF RFID Controller and Tag system and successfully demonstrated this at The ING New York City Marathon collecting more than 1.1 millions times with an error rate of less than 0.009%! ChronoTrack is slated, in the near future, to time the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Bloomsday and the Rotterdam Marathon plus other events involving over 4 million athletes in 2010.