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Monday, April 10, 2000
2000 Honolulu
Marathon times will
be in the chips
Silver-dollar-size microchips that
By Pat Bigold
tie into laces will keep track of
runners from start to finish
Star-BulletinOne of the most uncomfortable things about a footrace the size of the Honolulu Marathon is the start.
With 21,211 official finishers in the 1999 race, it was the fourth-largest marathon in the world. Buried in a sea of humanity that runs from Ala Moana Park to Queen Street Extension starting line, participants trudge, run in place, push, yell, and sometimes trip in their anxiety to begin running.
The anxiety comes from knowing that the one to eight minutes it takes to reach the start will be added to their finishing times.
But that's all in the past now. Dr. Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon Association, is prescribing a stress pill for his race on Dec. 10.
Make that a microchip.
The 2000 Honolulu Marathon will use the ChampionChip for timing.
The chip, which is the size of a silver dollar, ties into the laces of a running shoe. Through the use of a high-frequency identification system, it ensures that a runner's time from only starting line to finish line is recorded. There's no need to remove it after the race because all of the timing data will have been transmitted into race computers.
"The exciting part about this from the average runner's point of view is accurate timing and reduction of anxiety to cross the start," Barahal said.
It also will nearly eliminate cheating and entirely eliminate the need for chutes at the finish area.
A runner's family on the mainland, Japan or any part of the world will be able to track his or her progress through postings on www.honolulumarathon.org during the race.
The ChampionChip is used throughout the world in footraces like the Boston, New York City and Berlin marathons. It was invented in the Netherlands and was first used in 1994 in Berlin.
Mike Burns, whose Burns Computer Services has handled Honolulu Marathon timing for years, is the U.S. distributor and operator of the chip system.
"I'm hoping that Honolulu will have a minimum of three to four checkpoints," said Burns from his Michigan office last week.
Barahal said he probably will place the timing mats at the start, the 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) point, the half-marathon (13.1 miles) point and the finish.
"It's too expensive to put them everywhere," he said.
"It will open up the finish area because you won't need any chutes.
"Now you have to have people in the chutes to keep people in order as they cross the finish line. That's not a pleasant experience for runners not feeling well after completing the marathon."
Each checkpoint will have two systems, except for the start, which could have four.
Each system costs $17,000 but the cost will be absorbed by the Honolulu Marathon Association.
The cost of the new $8 chip, however, will be passed on to runners.
That will be immediately noticeable Saturday when the popular early sign-up period begins.
Whereas the early entry fee was $2, it will increase to $10.
Barahal said he shied away from the chip during its first few years of use because of the cost, which was $35 per chip. The more expensive chip was reusable. The Honolulu chip, which will be emblazoned with a commemorative logo, can be used only once.
Because Honolulu's field is made up largely of Japanese runners, Barahal was concerned not to scare them off with extra costs.
Of the 26,724 entrants in 1999, 12,877 were from Japan.
From May 15 to Oct. 31, the Honolulu Marathon entry fee for local residents will rise from $30 to $37 while the fee for out-of-state runners will increase from $65 to $72.
From Nov. 1 to Nov. 14, the fee for local residents will go from $45 to $52. The nonresident fee will jump from $75 to $82.
From Nov. 15 to Dec. 9, the late fee for all runners will increase from $100 to $110.
The Boston Marathon (April 17), which has John Hancock as its major sponsor, has the most extensive chip operation of any race in the world. It uses about $500,000 worth of systems on its course, providing runner splits every five kilometers and at the half-marathon mark. The progress of any runner can be tracked during the race via the Internet.
The chip is a transponder attached to a tiny coil of wire. Each chip, created by Texas Instruments, has a unique seven-character ID code which cannot be duplicated.
The chip remains passive until the wire comes into contact with the magnetic field created by 3-foot-by-7-foot mats placed at strategic points on the race course.
When the runner sets foot on the mat, the transponder transmits its ID code to antenna wires inside the mat and the runner's time is recorded.
Honolulu Marathon
