For anyone who has competed in a race before, you must have crossed the finish line, got your medal and when you finally look at the results on your watch, you’re surprised to see a distance that is not the exact mileage you expected to run. I just checked all of the half marathon race reports I published in the last few years and here are the ones where I had something other than the official 13.1 mile distance: 13.23, 13.22, 13.54, 13.23, 13.16, 13.06, 13.01. I think most runners know about things like running tangents and how the start of a race may involve zig zagging around slower runners. But it’s interesting to read how each race is actually measured. Check out this infographic from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series that describes the very detailed process and special tools that are used to measure each one of their courses. Cool stuff!!
