On April 18th, 2011 over 25,000 participants are expected to run the 115th
Boston Marathon – the oldest annual city marathon in the world. In
addition to its well known course meandering through eight Massachusetts
cities and towns, the Boston Marathon is famous for several legendary
participants. Recognized as a Boston Marathon icon, Johnny Kelley
competed in the Boston Marathon a record 61 times, winning in 1935 and
1945, placing second seven times and finishing in
the top five 15
times. Kelly ran his last full marathon at Boston in 1992 at the age of
84. Bill "Boston Billy" Rodgers won the Boston Marathon four times
between 1975 and 1980, breaking the American record in 1975 and 1979.
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father and son team who compete in the
wheelchair division with Dick pushing Rick in a custom racing chair.
Team Hoyt has competed in 27 Boston Marathons and often finish with
times faster than 90% of the pack.
While these runners have been an inspiration to many, no one may have changed the sport like Rosie Ruiz. In the 84th running of the Boston Marathon on April 21st
1980, Ruiz crossed the finish line before all other women runners –
clocking the fastest time ever recorded for a woman in the history of
the Boston Marathon and the third fastest time ever recorded for a woman
in any marathon. Following her impressive finish, investigations
determined that Ruiz had skipped most of the race and rejoined runners
about one mile from the finish line. Ruiz was disqualified and as a
result, the Boston Marathon and several other races instituted a number
of safeguards against cheating - including RFID race timing systems that
monitor when runners arrive at various checkpoints on the course.
Today, both Active and Passive RFID-based solutions are being used to
time all kinds of races including marathons, triathlons, and cycling,
sailing, skating and motorcycle races. In each of these and many other
races, Timing is everything. To ensure that
an accurate time is captured when every biker, runner or swimmer crosses
the finish line, events like these require extremely precise timing
equipment that is both durable and able to account for each participant,
especially in dense, quick-paced situations. Without RFID, races can
be timed by hand with operators using a stop-watch, or by using a
combination of electronic timing and video camera systems. As with many
other time-sensitive activities however, RFID has proven to be a more
efficient alternative to manual tracking due to a reduction in human
error and the technology’s ability to process a greater amount of data
in a shorter period of time.
RFID-enabled race timing solutions are offered by companies around
the globe, including several ThingMagic partners who have implemented
varying combinations of UHF and other RFID technologies to meet the
demands of their customers.
RFID Timing offers timing solutions for timing running, triathlon, cycling, swimming and canoeing. Their Ultra
product includes battery assisted tags that last for two and a half
years, extremely thin EVA mats, and highly sensitive Gen2 RFID readers. HDD is
a lower cost package for smaller organizations or multi-sport
competitions that can be set up in less than a minute, complete with
easy rollout mats. RFID Timing is using ThingMagic USB readers
for short range applications including encoding and checking UHF tags
prior to placement onto race numbers for an event. The ThingMagic USB
reader is also used to scan athletes’ tags at race pack pickup (usually
the day before a race) to verify the athletes details in the timing
system database are correct.
Zoomius produces TAG Heuer Track Intelligence,
a complete online motorsports management system. Hundreds of racing
organizations, track days and schools are using TAG Heuer Track
Intelligence to simplify their operations and provide more love to their
customers. Zoomius has also created the TITAN RFID system, powered by ThingMagic Mercury 5e readers
to provide cost-effective and accurate next-generation timing and
scoring systems. Perfect accuracy provided by sophisticated but
easy-to-use technology, TITAN RFID, powered by ThingMagic, brings
complete timing and scoring to organizations who previously couldn't
afford it. 1/1000th of a second. 40 feet. 180mph. With superior
ThingMagic technology Zoomius overcome hurdles that no-one else can even
come close to solving.
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