The meaning of Minutes

This past weekend I ran in the Kelowna marathon. This was the culminating race of my running season and I was aiming to run a personal best time beating my previous 3:19 mark.

It was a chilly day, -10C, in Kelowna which made for a cold start but ended up being very nice to run in. My plan was to set out on a 3:10 pace and see what I had left in the last 10 kms for a push to 3:06. I had a great race and held a steady 3:10 pace for 30kms but when I looked for another gear at around 32kms it just wasn't there. I was still happy as I was cruising on my 3:10 pace and feeling good. At the 40 km mark things went sideways as the course kind of disappeared and we were sent down a wrong road and ended up running over a 1/2 km too far. I finally crossed the finish line in 3:15, which I was very happy with, but I was confused as to what had happened since I was on pace for 3:10 right up to the last 2 kms.

In the end there were several problem with the course, including the two leading runners getting lost on the course and having to drop out. Since the race the running discussion boards are filled with some very upset people, especially those who missed their Boston Marathon qualifying time by seconds. As a result the organizers are looking at trying to adjust people's times to reflect the extra distance run. Read about the issues here.

This has gotten me thinking about how powerful things in print can be. I must admit, I would like them to adjust my "official" time to reflect that there was a screw-up but really whatever they do will be a rough estimate that I could do myself. So why do I care if they change it? I can probably do a better estimation myself so why can't I just tell people that I was around 3:10 or 3:11 and leave it at that? Why does that feel like cheating but if they change it in print it feels more legitimate even though I know that no matter what is done the time will not be a true marathon time. It is weird that after running for 3+ hours a few minutes would make a difference. I am happy with a 3:15 time but I am also disappointed that my finish line to finish line race was compromised after months of matching kms to seconds. I am more disapointed that it actually matters to me.

For race results click here.

Update:
I have just received an email that my time has been adjusted according to IAAF standards and my "official" time is now 3:12:30. After all is said and done it is somewhat less satisfying knowing that it was the result of some calculator work and not speed work but I'll take it.