Was Around the Bay really 30K?

If there’s one thing road runners love to complain and argue about is when a race course is too long or too short. There’s nothing worse than a marathon that’s actually an ultra or a 10K that, well, isn’t.

With GPS watches now the norm and strapped to a majority of race participant’s wrists, everyone seems to be an expert when it comes to whether a given course was accurate.

It didn’t take long after Sunday’s Around the Bay for participants to start questioning the accuracy of the historic, and supposedly 30K, race.

GPS data from sites like Strava clearly show a trend towards a course that was short.

It must be noted however that GPS watches and the data produced from them can be inaccurate and possess many pitfalls that make them unreliable. This is especially true when compared to the process of accurately measuring and certifying a race course, which many events do and which ATB has done in the past.

It’s also been pointed out that the discrepancy may be due to the finish inside FirstOntario Place, but this would only account for a very small distance.

Interestingly, most GPS data actually overestimates distance rather than underestimates it. In longer events especially, when participants are unable to run perfect tangents (they way that courses are measured), small additions to distance are added to the total, making it appear longer than the actual distance.

The top finishing times this year were also faster than in past years but that may be due in part to a stronger elite field and the removal of the Valley Inn Road hill.

It should also be noted that the last time that the Around the Bay course was officially certified appears to be in 2013 (according to Athletics Canada documentation) when the first 10K were changed to include a lengthy section on Burlington Street for the 2014 running of the event. As many know, the course was changed again in 2015 and it’s unclear whether the course was in fact measured and certified to account for these changes. Canadian Running contacted the organizers of the race but have yet to receive a reply.

We asked participants what they thought and here’s what you had to say:

@CanadianRunning Somewhere before the mid-point, the kilometre markers started coming up a couple hundred metres before my watch beeped. — James Koole (@jameskoole) March 30, 2015

@CanadianRunning Also msrd 29.88 on Garmin. Noticed mrkrs short 2nd 1/2. Caught up a bit by the end. Great race as usual though! #ATB30K

— Michael Applebaum (@m_apple77) March 30, 2015

200m short (40 sec) but I’ll take it RT “@CDNRaceGuide: Did you run Around the Bay yesterday? Some participants found the course to be short

— Tyler Chacra (@t_chacra) March 30, 2015

@CDNRaceGuide GPS can be so hit and miss. Not a big deal, though. I still had a great race! @bayracerun

— Courtney (@calundrigan) March 30, 2015

@CanadianRunning I did notice km markers were off mid-race by a tiny bit, but my Garmin still read 30.11 kms at the Finish. #ATB30K — Jodi Snowdon (@RunPrincessJodi) March 30, 2015

@CanadianRunning my garmin marked it at 29.89k at the finish. So yes a bit short. Started shortly before 15k

— Trish Benoit (@tbttrfly) March 30, 2015