SpectaSport provides the best chip timing and running and cycling race results for events in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas.

 If you’re reading this, you probably already have at least a rough idea of some of the advantages of using timing chips for race 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 running 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 Technology for the Best Results:  SpectaSport uses only the most advanced timing equipment from RM Timing Systems ("Timing Technology from the Silicon Valley") and ITS-Jaguar.  While other race timing companies continue to use last century’s technology, our standard disposable and self-adhesive chips (or “tags”) have a theoretical speed of 160 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 (by the way, that company used battery-powered chips that are supposedly 'superior' to SpectaSport's disposable chips).  By comparison, SpectaSport has used our technology to successfully time 5K Turkey Trots with thousands of participants, large marathons with blazing fast, sub-70-minute hand-crank wheelchair competitors, and even national-level bike races with packs of of riders travelling at nearly 30 miles-per-hour.  And we've timed all of these with a read rate of over 99%.  With our redundant systems, SpectaSport routinely tracks 100% of all competitors whose bibs are visible.  And our technology means that runners (and their family/friends) can see their results literally within minutes of crossing the finish line.

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 Chip Timing System 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 race 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 specialize in community 5K's and 10K's can provide you with advice, marketing/publicity, 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 Chip Timing Systems routinely track 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.  If you have a 200 person race, do you really want 40 of them disappointed?  

SpectaSport’s Timing Systems routinely track well over 99% of all chips at the races we time (even bike races) – not 80% like many of our competitors

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.

  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