Going the distance

By measuring marathon course meter by meter, JAY WIGHT assures runners of fair race

September 30, 2007
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA ecepeda@suntimes.com
Armed only with a battered bicycle, a handlebar-mounted note pad and an ultra-low-tech odometer, Jay Wight painstakingly measures every inch of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon course.

After race organizers have spent most of a year tying themselves into logistical knots by checking traffic patterns, ordering 50,000 Mylar blankets and securing 22,000 feet of fence, Wight comes in a few weeks before race day and methodically clicks off every single meter of the course so that elite and weekend runners alike can rest assured they've run a course that's no longer or shorter than the standards set by the guys with the yardsticks at USA Track and Field.

''Marksmen say their guns aren't weapons, they're tools,'' said Wight, 50, a two-marathon vet from Hoffman Estates who has been measuring ''the Chicago'' -- as it's known to runners all over the world -- for 20 years. ''This is my tool. I've got another bike at home, but it's just a bicycle.''

His ride, a bordering-on-rusty gray Trek, has a special counter -- a variation of the Jones counter that has been used to measure Olympic marathons since 1976 -- mounted on its front axle. It counts every revolution of the wheel and clicks them onto a counter on his handlebars through a cable.

Twice before the big day, he's on the course at 5 or 6 a.m. on Sundays, armed with his spray paint, hammer and nails for the three-hour ride to measure and mark the entire course.

''There's a half-mile calibration course on the lakefront that was set up in 1985, and I ride it first to make sure I know how many counts I have in each meter,'' Wight said.

It gets way more technical after that, with splits counted and marked at every kilometer and every mile.

''I've tried GPS and I have an electronic bicycle calculator, but it's just not as reliable as the tried-and-true method,'' Wight told me as we stood at the X-marked spot that will be the finish line next Sunday. ''For instance, GPS doesn't work well in any place with tall buildings, and it's only true within a range of five to 10 meters. Plus, it doesn't register elevations.''

But do a few feet here or there really matter?

''People come to Chicago to run fast,'' he said. ''If a record is set, it has to be exact. The course can never be shorter.''

In fact, it's so crucial that the course not be too short that there's a little ''just in case'' -- a ''fudge factor,'' if you will.

''We figure in one meter per kilometer, so it is possible that, depending on the route, a person could run 42,237 meters instead of the 42,195 I've certified the course as.''

On race day, the tool stays home and the toy comes out. Wight gets to be the race leader, riding a scooter -- ''so I can actually stay ahead of guys who run the thing in 2 hours and 5 minutes'' -- to verify that the winner actually ran the entire course as it was certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

The Chicago Marathon is but one of the 82 courses Wight, Illinois' race-course measurement certifier, has given his blessing to. Here are some tips he has for the competitors:

''Know the course, hug the curves and run the tangents.''

The course is on the marathon's Web site, so that part is easy.

As for hugging the curves, ''You want to run the shortest distance, so if you're running down the middle of the course, you're probably running too far,'' he said.

And the tangents?

''Take the shortest distance between two points, know where the turns are and run on the diagonal through them,'' he said.

How about potential pitfalls?

''The bridges with their steel grates are the toughest, though at least the first one is covered with carpet,'' he said. ''The absolute worst spot is the underpass at Ashland between Cermak and Archer, north of Pilsen. It can get real bumpy and wet down there.''

He should know. A crash there during the measuring process last year left the front tire of his trusty steed ''lookin' like Pac-Man.''

His final words of wisdom: ''Run the shortest route, and you'll run faster. Just remember how the course was measured.''