Capital Running Company acquired the ChampionChip race timing system in early 1998, and uses the high-tech system to score triathlons, marathons, and other races primarily in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.

Widely used in Europe and Japan, the ChampionChip has been accepted in the U.S., primarily at the larger races such as the Boston and Marine Corps Marathons. The system uses a small transponder, or chip," tied to runners' shoe laces, to send a signal to antennas located in mats at the start and finish lines, which records the runners times.

The ChampionChip timing system has its origins in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Wim Meijer and the organizers of the Seven Hills Run tried to find a system that would solve their finish line problems.

How It Was Developed

Together with a technical university and TIRIS (a Texas Instruments company), a provisional system was made with standard materials. This system was tried in the November 1993 edition of the Seven Hills Run. The trial was so successful that in March 1994 a company, ChampionChip bv, was founded to develop a professional transponder system for automatic timing of active sports events.

At the 1994 Berlin Marathon, ChampionChip bv from Holland and the experienced German timing group Sport Team started a new era in the timing of major road running events. For this race, the participants who bought a ChampionChip all received their chip time as well as their clock time in the results listings. Because the system records the actual time a runner crosses the starting line, the system is able to give runners their net or chip time, i.e., the actual time it took a particular runner to run the course, without the penalty of delays at the starting line, which often added minutes to a runner's time in the larger races. Another advantage of the system is that it eliminates the need for finish line chutes and many volunteers, allowing a free- flowing, open finish line.

From the success at the Berlin Marathon, the ChampionChip system spread throughout the European market. As the success of the system continued, the use of the systems started to spread worldwide.

On the first weekend of March 1996, ChampionChip and Burns Computer Services used the system at its first major U.S. debut. The 1996 City of Los Angeles Marathon was a smashing success, recording clock time, chip times, and half-way splits for 17,000 runners. Then in April 1996, the ChampionChip was used to score the largest marathon ever in the United States, the 100th Boston Marathon. Over 36,000 runners finished that year at Boston with clock times, chip times, and half-way splits. Later in 1996, the ChampionChip system was used for real-time 5K splits at the Olympic Marathons and Race walks.

From the start of the system in the 1994 Berlin Marathon, the use of the system has grown steadily. In the 1998 racing season, over 2,500 events worldwide used the technology of the future.

ChampionChips for Sale

Capital Running Company's president, Rick Freedman, also announced that CRC now has ChampionChips available for purchase and/or get an accessory strap. Most races in the U.S. use rental chips, which must be retrieved immediately after the race. As more and more races in the Washington, DC area employ the ChampionChip timing system, runners will want to acquire their own personal chip. An international database of ChampionChip owners is available to race directors worldwide, and will help speed the entry of ChampionChip runners into races. Owning a ChampionChip will also entitle runners to discounts on their entry fees, as race directors raise fees to cover the cost of the rental chips. The ChampionChip is guaranteed for life and can be used in any ChampionChip timed event in the world. Purchase a ChampionChip or Accessories

How It Works

The basis for the ChampionChip timing system is the high- frequency identification system TIRIS from Texas Instruments. This is the same technique that is used for security locks in cars and for admission control in office buildings. The same transponder had been used before in timing road races, but not in a way that would facilitate race scoring. The runners were forced to run through a small gate, and the system did not record chip times, only clock times.

The main thought of ChampionChip was that it could create a free and automatic timing system by laying down antennas on the ground and attaching the transponder to the shoe. This puts the transponder within the detection range of the ground antennas. In a test it was found that, with a 4-meter (14 feet) wide system, more than 1,500 runners per minute can be timed without missing anyone. Each transponder is programmed with a unique seven-character ID code. The transponder is passive until moving into a magnetic field generated by the ChampionChip antenna mats. There are no batteries in the chip, it uses a few simple laws of physics to seemingly pull its energy out of the air. An energizing coil is located within the plastic chip housing. The copper coil of wire moving through a magnetic field produces electrical current that energizes the ChampionChip transponder. Its unique seven-character ID code is received by the reading antenna in the same mats that generate the magnetic fields.

The antennas are cast in thin tartan carpets (the same material that covers "rubberized" tracks) and are thus protected against all climatic conditions like rain, snow, mud, and ice. The antennas are connected to a controller box, which in turn is connected to a laptop computer. In addition to timing the start and finish of road races and other active sports events, the mats can be used for split times and validation checkpoints along the course. The data can be transferred immediately to the media, spectators, and provide instant updates on the Internet. The information provided is real, accurate data that athletes want.

Capital Running Company produces and manages over 40 road races and other events per year in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. Race directors interested in using the ChampionChip timing system can call Rick Freedman at Capital Running Company at (301) 871-0005.