Certified in '17

I'm not sure why it took me so long to realize that pretty much every race course in my area that is not certified is inaccurate, and often grossly so!  Due to this, I have "official" race results all over the board on these courses; my very favorite was the time I raced a mile in 6:08 and a 5K in 14:59 on the very same morning (actual course distances were 1.1ish and 2.5ish)!

I understand that not all races want to pay to certify their courses, but with our current state of technology there is no excuse for courses not being very close.  Hello Garmin, Strava, and Mapmyrun!  I feel like organizers of some events I've done have said, "Okay, it's convenient to start and finish here.  Let's find a loop that is within a half mile of the advertised distance and go with it."  Not okay!  Or "Just put the finishing mat by that electrical outlet there, and have 'em turn around at that telephone poll."  I just don't understand!  I recently saw a 10K race advertised, with the event description containing the phrase "this 6 mile race", and about poked my eye out.  I also recently paced a friend in a half marathon that was about 12.7 miles...even though [wait for it], it was out and back on a trail that is marked accurately every 0.1 of a mile!

I think this conundrum is also bad for less experienced runners who may not understand certified vs. not certified, and also who don't understand that GPS watches aren't 100% accurate either.  I think short courses can set people up for PRs that they may never be able to break (heck, I ran 35:45 "10K" once in addition to that 14:59 "5K" I mentioned above), and long courses may lead to disappointments over not improving when a person really has improved.  If a course isn't certified, you really don't know how far you ran since GPS watches aren't perfect either, and the OCD in me sure hates that.

I've never counted non-certified course times as official PRs, but I've run many races that weren't certified, particularly shorter local events.  However, after several disappointments over solid performances that I couldn't count for much of anything due to inaccurate courses, I decided that I'm done!  "Certified in '17" is the new black.

Disclaimer:  my husband says I need to make exception to this crusade for races that offer prize money, which I consented to considering.

Have you ever run a pathetically inaccurate course?  Did the race director care?

Note:  You can find USATF certified courses in your area here, and generally race websites will indicate their course is certified if it is.