TIMING
Susan Boobyer:
Marketing services and
events manager for Seiko UK
O
ur role was to time the elite ath-
letes. As two separate events
were running concurrently, it
meant having two sets of personnel and
equipment, which was a big challenge.
The first procedure on the day is to
attach a small transponder chip to the
athletes’ front bibs. All the athletes
have to be checked to make sure they
have the right bib, with the right
transponder, and that the front bib
corresponds with the back. Then we
lay out the transponder pick up mats
on the start and finish lines and install
the equipment necessary for that.
We have a whole bank of master and
back up timers and when the race starts The elite athletes are timed by Seiko and
we send somebody ahead of the athletes the mass participation race by HS Sports
on a bike with one of these timers. They
visit each of the 5km measuring points, within a split second, so television view-
synchronising the start time with the ers see the results in real time.
other equipment on the course. Because the transponder time can be
When the athletes approach each the official time for the IAAF events, it Our partner company, HS Sports,
of the transponder mats, their chip is has to be very accurate, as records and managed the timing for the Birmingham
picked up by our system, their unique money are involved. Our system is very Half Marathon. For the mass races an
identity is transferred down the ADSL expensive, with each chip costing around approximation of the time is fine and it
line to our control centre at the start/ US$15 (£9), therefore, the transponders is less critical if not every athlete is cap-
finish line. We put all that data together are collected at the end of each race. We tured. The chips are less expensive and
and make a data stream, which goes to also have lead cars with clocks driving factored into the cost of the entry fee.
the results company, who are also lo- around the course and a sophisticated They don’t have any of the 5km markers,
cated in the start/finish line, so they can camera system at the end to ensure each all they need is the transponder mats
generate the results. All this happens athlete is accurately measured. at the start and the finish.
Cherry Alexander: Head of competitions and international relations at UK Athletics
P
art of my remit is to prepare a strat- weren’t participating in enough sport, taking responsibility for an area, such as
egy for the next 10 years to looking so they wanted high profile sporting finance, accreditation, medical and ac-
at the major events we want to events to inspire them. commodation and transport. The LOC
host, then approaching the world and Eu- Once an event has been secured, my has to feed back to the executive steer-
ropean governing bodies to bid for them. role changes slightly because I then be- ing group, which is made up of local MPs
Once they are secured, we see which cities and the UKA chair or chief executive.
would be interested in hosting them. Nine What made the workload of this race
times out of 10 we’re bidding against
Birmingham City Council
huge was that the plans we made for the
other countries, especially for track and
wanted to host high
World Half Marathon also had to relate
field events. We won the right to host the to the mass race. However, the link be-
World Half Marathon in April 2008.
profile sporting events
tween the two races and our promotions
We chose Birmingham as the host be-
to inspire its people
pushed the entries up for the Birming-
cause UK Athletics (UKA) has a fantastic ham Half Marathon from 8,000 last year,
partnership with the city council: we’ve the first year it was run, to 12,500.
hosted the World Indoor Championships come the link between UKA and the city. The major stress for me before the
and the European Indoor Championships A Local Organising Committee (LOC) event is making sure all overseas athletes
with them, as well as the National Cham- is set up to organise the event, which have their visas. On the actual day, the
pionships. They were really pitching for is made up of myself, the champion- medal ceremony is the hardest thing to
events at that time, as they had received ship director (normally a city employee) deal with, as it’s critical to get this done
feedback that people in Birmingham and then a number of chairs each before the cameras go off air.
56 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital Issue 4 2009 © cybertrek 2009
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