Welcome to the Long Island Road Runners Club. The LIRRC has been serving runners for thirty-three years with over 60 events in scenic Eisenhower Park. Our club features:

• Spring and Fall Marathon Tune-Up Races
• 1/4, 1/2, and 1-Mile Summer Series Kids & Youth Races
• 5K Summer Series
• Cross Country Races
• 4x2 Mile Relay Races
• BBQ's

Please make sure to check the events listed on our Race Schedule. If you haven't yet joined the club, we have included a Membership Application link for you. If you want to know more about the club, make sure to check out the About Us page. 

Happy July 4th.

What better way to start the weekend. Join fellow club members at the Bellmore Striders Independence Day 4 Mile Run.

In order to give the Race Team time to prepare for the race, registration for the Wednesday Night Summers Series beginning May 6, 2009, will close at 6:50 P.M.  We are sorry for any  inconvenience this may cause.

     President's Message

An Open Letter to GPS Users

There is a growing controversy at road races, including LIRRC races. This controversy is runners with GPS devices running a race and complaining due to the readings on their GPS's, they believe the race course was short, or more often, they believe it was too long.

The fact is, the GPS is not recognized by USATF to certify a course, nor is it deemed reliable to measure a course. The only acceptable measuring device is what is called a Jones Counter, which is an odometer attached to the wheel of a bicycle. The counter is calibrated on a known calibration course and then used to measure a racecourse. A note of importance is if anything, a racecourse will be LONG. There is a requirement in measuring rules that a so-called long factor has to be calculated in, assuring a course is not short.

Now, some of the reasons a runner may believe the course is a different length than it should be are among the following:

What are the reasons for poor GPS performance?

   1.   Not starting and stopping the GPS at the course start and finish.
   2.   Not following the Shortest Possible Route (running tangents).
   3.   Loss of satellite visibility under trees & in the shadow of buildings.
   4.   Imperfect algorithms in consumer type GPS units worn by runners. (Different models   
         can have different readings).

As far as we can tell, the mistake many runners in Eisenhower Park, even experienced ones do, is not running the tangents, or shortest route possible. That is how the course is measured. Anytime you pass someone or run wide on turns, you are running longer. That and not accounting for getting to the start line and resetting your GPS, is where the misconception of basing a course's length on what your GPS says comes in. If you base it on a GPs you are WRONG.

A GPS is great for keeping track of a run, but do not look at it as an accurate tool to measure a racecourse you have run. It is not. Leave that to those who spend painstakingly long hours to assure that all runners in a race have an accurate course to run. And we do that the only acceptable way there is, with a Jones Counter, not a GPS.

The LIRRC Management Team

Runners Have Visited This Web Page Since April 12, 2009