Runner Tracking

There is still time to sign up for "runner tracking", a system which will send a runner's progress updates to your mobile phone. This service charges $2 for the first runner and $1 each for additional runners.

Last year you could track runners online from the Rock'n'Roll San Antonio website, but I haven't been able to get confirmation on whether they will offer that again this year. I'll have someone monitor that on race day and will post to the blog if it is a possibility. Otherwise, just check the R'n'R website to see for yourself. It should be apparent if they have the system up, or not.

Ever wonder how this is done? If you're a veteran runner, you already know that most timing is done by a chip which is attached to the shoe laces. Timing mats pick up a signal from the chip when you run over the mat. You'll see a mat at the start and finish, but they also put mats at various other points along the race route, partly to insure that no one takes a shortcut, but mostly so they can record progress reports, or splits, for each runner. Within the past 18 months a dramatic change has taken place. Timing chips are used less and less. In their place are durable paper D-Tags from ChronoTrack Systems. Where once you had to wait at the finish line for someone to cut the timing chip off your shoe, there's now no need to turn anything back in. The D-Tag contains a tiny silicon chip and an aluminum antenna on a plastic substrate. This reacts with the timing mats the same way the older chips did. So, once you run over one of the mats your time and runner id is collected; the collector "talks" to software which then sends your race progress almost instantly to a subscriber's mobile phone. This information is also published later, along with your finishing time, so you can speculate for hours on end on how you will run an even better race the next time. Bottom line: It's Way Cool.