Cebu city marathon feature What is a ChampionChip?

CEBU, Philippines - During the press conference the other day at the Casino Español de Cebu, organizers of the forthcoming Cebu Marathon announced that they would introduce a timing chip called ChampionChip during the race.   

Each runner, in the 21K and 42K distances, will get this high-tech passive transponder as official timing device.

The technology consists of a miniature transponder with a silicon chip and energizing coil embedded in a specially designed casing about 1.5 inches in diameter. It is lightweight, around three grams and is weatherproof, waterproof and shock proof.

How does the chip work?

The chip starts working after it passes through a magnetic field, in case of a runner, when he or she passes through a mat that is equipped with special receiving antennas. The mats are laid out at the starting line, a few other segments of the route and at the finish line.

After the transponder is activated, it sends signals to reading antennas in the mats. The signal consists of a unique code of the runner, lap times and overall timing that are then recorded to the race computer.

John Pages, a member of the organizing Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC), said that with the timing chips, runners who are thinking to cheat or take some shortcuts would be deterred from making such foolish moves.

Meyrick Jacalan also of CERC added that runners don’t have worry anymore about where to put the straws that are usually given at certain check points during a race. The number of straws signifies the checkpoints a runner must pass to ensure organizers that he or she had passed through the official route.

The Cebu Marathon will be the first major race outside of Manila that will be using the timing chip, thus the personal times of those who finished the race will be available in the website a few hours after the race.

Those who will join the Cebu Marathon could take home the timing chip as a souvenir. In other races, runners have to return the chip after the race.

Timing chips first appeared in Netherlands in 1994. Since then the gadget is a familiar fixture in various marathons including Berlin, Boston, New York, Disneyland and triathlon competitions around the world.— Raffy B. Osumo, Columnist  (FREEMAN NEWS)