Exciting Times

At this years Turkey Day 10k and 5k in downtown Wilmington I had a feeling we were going to go over the 2000 participant mark for the first time. I was correct. The 10k is pretty easy to score with 587 finishers. One chute is all it takes. But as I got to the starting line for the 5k I realized just how exciting it is to see so many lined up to run. When the cannon went off I headed to the finish line to get all my vols organized. The 5k goes past the finish area on its way to the turnaround. Wow...what an impressive site watching all these folks running by. I set up two long chutes to time the runners. And to be honest with you I could have used 3 chutes but we just did not have the room on the roads with runners coming both ways. Open chute one...close chute one....open chute two....close chute two. 1416 finishers. Thus making this Delaware's largest road race. Total: 2003 finishers. Is this race too big to time by hand? Yes and no. I can get the job done but there is a better way. Chip timing. On Tuesday prior to race day I sent the race committee a note telling them that after 30 years of handling the finish line duties I will no longer time this event. I will continue to be race director. With chip timing now available it is time to step up and make this race even better. I hire a company who uses chip (transponder timing) for my DE Marathon and Caesar Rodney Half. This will make number 3 chip timed race that i manage. Three of Delaware's premier running events.