Buzz
In your last 5K, you and most other runners likely covered more than the standard five kilometers. There’s a legitimate way to minimize your distance without breaking any rules.
Race distances are calculated based on the shortest feasible route through the course, with an additional 0.1% buffer. (This applies to any USATF-certified course, which covers the majority of organized road races in the US.)
How can you ensure you’re running the actual race distance? Aim for the shortest path around curves—this doesn’t mean hugging the inside edge. As Kelly O’Mara notes in Competitor:
Imagine running down a street during a race and making a right turn followed by a left turn. The shortest path between corners would be a straight diagonal line. Yet, most runners don’t follow this route. Instead, they stick to one side of the road and cut in sharply at the last moment, or they zigzag across the road before making the turn.
While navigating through crowds might be necessary, as long as the route is unobstructed, employing the 'running the tangents' method can help you shave off some distance—potentially saving up to half a mile in a marathon.
For a deeper dive into the rationale and techniques behind running the tangents, visit Competitor. Additionally, explore the USATF’s guidelines for course measurers, which include detailed diagrams on identifying the shortest path.
Photo by Peter Mooney.
