If you’re reading this, you probably already have at least a rough idea of some of the advantages of chip timing: faster & more accurate results, simpler registration, and the ability for your race to handle more entrants at a higher price. But did you know that SpectaSport’s chip timing can make your race safer? Read on and find out the reasons why SpectaSport is the company to call when “good enough” isn’t good enough for YOUR race…
SpectaSport Uses the Best Chips for the Best Results: SpectaSport uses only Jaguar timing chips manufactured by Innovative Timing Systems, the “21st century Gold Standard” in chips. While other companies use last century’s technology, our standard disposable and self-adhesive chips (or “tags”) have a theoretical speed of 200 mph for new standards of accuracy and capabilities for your race. Ask other timing companies if their disposable chips (if they even have them) can time a wheelchair division or a bicycle race. In fact, SpectaSport entered the race timing business after an incident at a national-level bike race we were producing at the time – the timing company we had hired months earlier for that race called us five days before our race to tell us that he had “discovered” that his chip timing system wasn’t actually capable of timing a bike race.
Why are disposable chips so important? Not only do disposable chips simplify race logistics and reduce the number of volunteers that are needed, Nicholas Belasco D.O., a dual certified Family Medicine/Primary Care Sports Medicine Specialist, says the Jaguar disposable chips used by SpectaSport, in conjunction with a well-designed finish line, significantly increase the safety of running race participants:
Nicholas Belasco D.O., a dual certified Family Medicine/Primary Care Sports Medicine Specialist, says the Jaguar disposable chips used by SpectaSport, in conjunction with a well-designed finish line, significantly increase the safety of running race participants:
“Besides the obvious risks of collision or creating a bottleneck at the finish line,” wrote Dr. Belasco in an email to SpectaSport after experiencing our timing service for the first time, “the act of stopping an athlete in their tracks right as they complete the race is dangerous -- because that is the precise physiologic mechanism for Exercise Associated Collapse (EAC), which is a type of orthostatic hypotension to which anyone exercising hard can succumb. The body needs to "cool down" following a maximal cardiovascular effort, that's why we have people keep walking after a race, so that their heart rate and blood pressure have a few seconds to adjust. When you don't let people adjust, they run the risk of passing out right at the finish line, which can be very dangerous. I have seen this happen at races so many times, that now it is part of my pre-race walkthrough that I go speak to the timing people and ask them to collect the ankle timing devices a hundred yards from the finish line so that the participants have a chance to slow down and stabilize before they ask them to stop and bend down to take off their devices.”
How have other timing companies reacted to Dr. Belasco’s vast, on-the-street medical experience? “I am frequently met with opposition,” he continued, “as the timing devices are expensive, and the timers are often worried that people will walk off with them. It is a significant (for medical personnel) logistical irritation at best, and at worst has the potential to ruin a race for any number of participants. That is why I prefer a timing tag like the Jaguar. The tags are small and disposable, allowing the racers to walk around while wearing them and cool off, significantly reducing the number of EAC cases (as well as collision injuries) I see during a race. They allow the computers and judges to capture the data they need, without causing more medical and logistical problems for the medical team and without putting race participants at un-necessary risk.”
Dr. Belasco says timing tags like Jaguar significantly reduce cases of EAC
SpectaSport’s job is to make your life easier, and your race better. We are not just timers, we can help you through all the organizational details that make the difference between an “OK” race and a “Great” race that earns more respect, more recognition and more income for your organization or charity. We can provide you with advice, marketing/publicity, PA announcing, background music and a professional finish line truss (not PVC pipes in concrete-filled paint buckets like one of our competitors). We even have a digital results kiosk connected wirelessly to our results computers so racers can see their times as soon as they warm down after crossing the finish line. Oh, and by the way, SpectaSport’s Jaguar Timing System routinely tracks well over 99% of all chips at the races we time (even bike races) – not 80% like many of our competitors, who make runners stop to return their chips or use paper disposable tags that runners must lace onto their shoes.
SpectaSport’s Jaguar Timing System routinely tracks well over 99% of all chips at the races we time (even bike races) – not 80% like many of our competitors
If you have a 200 person race, do you really want 40 of them disappointed? If you have a 500 person 5K, do you want 100 upset runners? You won’t with SpectaSport -- we use Jaguar because we realize that “good enough” isn’t good enough when it comes to timing.
You CAN Afford This...
Really, you can afford this. You’re probably cynical because so many salesmen over the years have showed you all kinds of complicated graphs and statistics to “prove” that, over time, their product will pay for itself. Well, we’re not selling you overpriced vacuum cleaners, so we don’t need to resort to that kind of malarkey.
...we're not selling you overpriced vacuum cleaners, so we don't need to resort to that kind of malarky.
Just look at the simple math:
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Charge each entry $5 more (you can do this simply because you have chip timing).
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Pay SpectaSport Chip Timing less than $5 per entry
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Pocket the difference.
Or, you could charge less for entry fees (because you offer less to your customers), and pay hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket because it’s “cheaper”.
If you ask around, you’ll find that most runners and cyclists will gladly pay an extra $5 to enter races that have chip timing. Why? Because those are the races that they perceive as “the good ones” -- and they really like the “extras” that chip timing can provide (like, for example, lap times and actual results for every competitor in cyclocross bike races, even if they're lapped).
At SpectaSport, we don’t believe spending more and making less is “good enough”. We believe that promoters and their charities should make more money because they have chip timing, not less. We believe that the safety of your competitors is more important than the convenience of your timer. And we believe that “good enough” isn’t good enough for participants or promoters. If you believe that “good enough” isn’t good enough for YOUR race either, contact SpectaSport right now at 610-397-1950 or email info@SpectaSport.com.
SPECTASPORT: WHEN “GOOD ENOUGH” ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOUR RACE