“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.

The D-Tag offers many advantages. The single use chip eliminates the need for specialized chip pickup counters and chip return stations as chip deposits are a thing of the past. Also the issues with uncomfortable pressure from the ChampionChip’s transponder on the shoe is history. Above all the D-Tag guarantees even more data security then it’s predecessor. Also Ecologically it makes sense to utilize the ChronoTrack system, The inventors [ChronoTrack] together with FitPlanet have set-up a sound recycling program [for the D-Tag].

For more information:
www.metrogroup-marathon.de

For the original press release in german:
pressemitteilung

This year’s Iceman Cometh Challenge was timed by Gault Race Management (GRM) of Flushing, Michigan, a longtime proponent of the ChronoTrack D-Tag. John Gault, owner of GRM, says that in his experience, “The optimal orientation of the tag is vertical. For the Iceman, we put the timing device upright on the back of the bike plates.”

It’s not the first time the D-Tag has been used in a cycling event, but it was evidently one of the most successful. Says Gault, owner of GRM, “We got 100% reads. 100%. That’s totally unheard of. Nobody will believe me when I tell them. You can look at the raw data. Every single cyclist, every single split, every single time.” That includes, he adds, all primary lines as well as backup lines.

The ChronoTrack System’s performance is not the issue, he says. The real problem, Gault says, is that there are “still so many people in the racing communities who have never heard of [the D-Tag or ChronoTrack]. We’ve got to get the word out.”

Gault Race Management also used ChronoTrack Systems to time this year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships, to great success. For more on the Gaults, see www.gaultracemanagement.com.

John Gault is the owner, together with his wife Anne, of Gault Race Management. Based in Michigan, the Gaults provide timing for different events all over the country. This November, they used the ChronoTrack system to time all three divisions of the NCAA Cross Country Championships. When asked whether the events were a success, Gault responded, “We’ve already been asked about timing some of the bigger meets for NCAA in the future. They were very pleased with the tags.”

Some expressed concerns that the ChronoTrack system might not hold up against the added equipment the athletes might use outdoors – specifically the spikes used by cross country runners. Gault says, “I’ve had mats (called Gators) at more than a dozen cross country races, and you’d think they’d have holes all over them from the spikes, but not my ChronoTrack mats. Sure, they’re scratched up enough, but you can’t get a hole through them with runners’ spikes.”

Additionally, while helping ChronoTrack test the use of its forthcoming B-tag, the timers were pleased to report success. When some athletes’ finish times were challenged, Gault reports the B-Tag would have saved the day. “We had to review three finishes with the camera systems. In each case, the chest tag showed the correct finish order.”

The problem isn’t the system’s performance, he says. “The problem is that there are still so many people in racing communities who have never heard of [the D-Tag or ChronoTrack]. We’ve got to get the word out.”

Gault Race Management also used ChronoTrack Systems to time this year’s www.gaultracemanagement.com.

On Sunday, November 1, nearly 44,000 runners gathered at the base of the Varrazano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island, New York to celebrate –and run– the fortieth New York City Marathon. This year, after vetting over 100,000 applicants, the New York Road Runners hosted the world’s largest marathon in history, breaking records for both the number of entrants and the largest number of finishers. In addition to drawing a record amount of runners, they managed it all with a brand new timing system: invented and produced by eighteen month old ChronoTrack Systems and featuring a device called the D-tag, it is the race world’s first and most successful disposable timing system.

The ChronoTrack timing system utilizes an adhesive tag, printed on and numbered according to the runners’ bibs. Athletes remove the tag from their own bib, and loop the D-tag through their shoe laces, forming the signature D shape. Although significantly different from its predecessors, “It’s a simple system to use,” says New York Road Runners VP of Administration and Operations Ken Winell. “It doesn’t require an engineering degree. We basically trained our finance team, among others, to score races for us.”

Prior to the race, many had expressed concerns about employing such a new timing system for such a major event. “The truth is, our concerns with [switching to] ChronoTrack were whether they could handle the density [of participants],” says Winell. The Indiana based company conducted several tests on races of comparable size throughout 2009 to demonstrate the D-tag’s ability to handle similar volumes. After witnessing the ChronoTrack D-tag system handle over 50,000 runners in Atlanta’s Peachtree 10K on July 4th, and comparing ChronoTrack’s financial analysis to that of its competitor, Winell said, “The benefits of the ChronoTrack walk-off were superior… in every way.”

One issue with the logistics of a race of this size is how to eliminate crowd back up, particularly at the finish line. Where previous timing systems required athletes to return each individual device, the D-tag is the most reliable of its kind that can be safely thrown away. “People are looking for a disposable solution and ChronoTrack was the first one on the scene with a really good one… that worked. Given the systems, the ease of use, and the demand for them among events, most of the larger timing companies I know have made the switch,” says Bob Teschek, owner of Granite State Racing Services.

Another potential issue was switching technologies; many runners, particularly veteran racers, have become familiar with the older timing system that had been in place for fifteen years or more. In order to subvert any confusion about using the D-tag, “The New York Road Runners invested heavily in communications about how to properly install the [D-tag] and that was very effective,” says Ken Winell. “There were a few instances where people contacted us [with issues]… We asked them to take a photo of their shoe and it would turn out to be operator error, but that allows us to make a manual update to the instructions for next year.” He continues: “We’ve had fewer incidents, fewer complaints this year. I’d have to say we couldn’t be happier, both with the technology decisions that we made, and with the overall performances of our systems.”

With event logistics becoming even more complicated in recent years thanks to a broadening interest in racing competitions, it’s difficult to understand why coordinators and timers endured a substandard system for so long. According to Dave McGillivray, Race Director for the Boston Marathon, “We tolerated [shortcomings in previous timing systems] because we so enjoyed the technology. It’s all there was. Now you can put systems out on the course, track people, just a host of things that weren’t possible before.” Teschek concurs: “The more numbers and the more variables you add, the higher the percentage of something, anything, going wrong.”

Transitioning to a new timing system like ChronoTrack’s was a risky venture, especially for so large an event as the New York Marathon. Winell remarks, “I’d have to say we hit it out of the park… We scored well over 43,000 runners.” Furthermore, “The ChronoTrack system, was superior [to its predecessor] in every way. It was a well-executed, organized event. It actually was the smoothest marathon –from a technology perspective– that we’ve had in the last [several] years.”

Though the ChronoTrack D-tag is still a relatively new timing system, the company is already working on the next wave of race timing technology: the bib tag, or B-tag. According to McGillivray, the race world has been looking for such a thing for nearly fifteen years: “When all of us were looking for [electronic] technology, right off the bat we were looking for the [technology] in the bib,” he says. “We knew what we were looking for, it just wasn’t there yet. Now we’re ever so close to it.”

ChronoTrack announced at the NYC Marathon the development of its B-tag, which will be used in a major marathon before the end of 2009.

Photos from the NYCM: