Question about USAT Sanctioning

Frightened Inmate #2

I'm racing a 5K tomorrow and according to the USAT website, this is a sanctioned event. Does that mean that the course is exactly 5K and not just roughly 5K?

Gone Fishin

I wouldn't say that's a guarantee. "Sanctioning" refers to insurance and the USATF is supplying the policy for that race. "Certification" is the term you're looking for. That's when the race director has gone through all the application hoops on precision measuring.

Would the USATF sanction an uncertified race? I believe so.
Would a race director go through the expense of sanctioning with the USATF and then not go through the work of certifying? Sure seems like only going halfway to making a quality event, but could be.

The way to find out if it's certified is to search the USATF database and see if the certification papers have been filed...
http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/search/

Former FFL Champion

I ran in a USATF race recently, and I would bet my left nut it wasn't 5000 meters.

Member

Sanctioned and certified are not necessarily the same.

http://www.usatf.org/events/sanctions/

http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/index.asp

Member

While a certified course was measured correctly, that doesn't mean they don't mess something up and fail to run the course as it was measured. I've run several races where this has happened. But I would say it gives you a much higher probability of having an accurate course.

Former FFL Champion

I just chopped of my left nut. It appears the race I ran was in fact certified. Maybe I'll run faster now that I'm lighter.

Adjunct