Measured Courses & Course Measurers in:-

England

South

Midlands

North

Norhern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

International

Answers to Frequent Questions from Race Organisers

If your question is not answered below please email to

• How are courses measured?
• How do I obtain a UKA certificate of course accuracy ?
• How do I obtain a UKA road race permit?
• How do I renew a UKA certificate of course accuracy?
• How much off-road surface is permitted before a race is multi-terrain?
• How do I become a course measurer?
• Help! I know my course has been measured but cant find the certificate number

HOW ARE COURSES MEASURED?

• The UKA requires courses to be measured according to IAAF procedures by a measurer who is accredited for measurement in the UK. The measurer will ride a bicycle along the shortest possible route, within the boundaries of the course. He uses a special counter to record the revolutions of the front wheel which gives a precision of about 10 cm. To get an accurate length he has to calibrate his bicycle by riding along a short calibration course which has been accurately surveyed with a steel tape or an Electronic Distance Measuring machine.
• The overall accuracy of measurement is normally a little better than 1 part in 1000, which is equivalent to 10 metres in a 10K or 42 meters in a marathon. To ensure the course is at least the advertised distance, the measurer uses a short course prevention factor when determining the official distance. For example, he will aim to make a 10,000 metre course 10,010 metres long, and the official distance which appears on the certificate will be 10,000 metres, because the measurement has established that the course is definitely not less than 10,000 metres.

HOW DO I OBTAIN AN UKA CERTIFICATE OF COURSE ACCURACY ?

1. Select a course and measure it as accurately as you can. (Use an OS 1:25000 map, a bike, a GPS, or, worst, a car)
2. Prepare a course map
3. Notify the police and follow any safety recommendations
4. Contact an accredited measurer and make an appointment for a measurement. The measurer will make a charge (see guidelines) and you should ask for an estimate.
5. Supply the measurer with the following:
   • A map of the course (he may ask for several copies for his report)
   • Details of what part of the road will be available to runners. If not all the road and adjacent pavements are available, how will runners be stopped from taking short cuts? If you do not have sufficient means available to prevent short cuts, the measurer may have to measure using the full width available. This applies particularly on right hand corners where runners often ignore a race organiser's intentions to keep everyone to the left.
   • Details of any other restrictions at corners.
   • Details of any other places where runners might take short cuts e.g. on pavements - a number of small savings here and there can add up to something significant over the whole course.
   • Intended location of start and finish, and how much flexibility is there for adjusting either or both.
   • Agreement to pay the measurer's out-of-pocket expenses.
6. On the agreed day meet the measurer and show him the course. It is usually best to accompany him on a bike. But a car may also be suitable. On busy roads the measurer may need someone behind him to 'protect' him from the traffic as he concentrates on an accurate measurement. Busy courses may need to be measured at a quiet time, e.g. early on Sunday morning. You may find it worthwhile to consult the Safety Code for Course Measurement so that you have an appreciation of the procedures the course measurer uses to make the measurement safe. The course measurer will seek your help to ensure his safety while riding, and he might not be able to complete the measurement at a single visit if he discovers hazrds which he has not planned for.
7. After the measurement the measurer writes a report and sends copies to the race organiser and to the area measurement secretary, who issues the Certificate of Course Accuracy. Without a valid certificate and a renewal (see below) for subsequent races, any permit issued for a race advertising a specific distance would be invalid.

HOW DO I OBTAIN AN UKA ROAD RACE PERMIT ?

1. Select a course and measure it as accurately as you can.
2. Prepare a course map
3. Notify the police and follow any safety recommendations
4. Contact an accredited measurer and make an appointment for a measurement. Send him the map so he can plan the measurement.
5. Obtain a permit application form from your County Road Race permit secretary or from the permit issuing authority in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Races in England are handled by Athletics Services, located at UKA HQ Birmingham. You can download all the permit application forms which you need from the road race section of the UKA website
6. Submit the permit application (and dont forget the course measurement form) to your County Road Race Permit Secretary whose contact details can be obtained by dowloading this excel spreadsheet (nb: if left clicking these two links does not work with your browser, try right clicking and select save target as or save link as). You should normally do this at least 6 months before the race. The voluntary officials will normally handle the paper work within a few weeks depending on holidays. You will then get your permit from the national permit issuing authority. The permit number and the number of the Certificate of Course Accuracy should then be shown on your race entry form so runners know the course will be accurate and the organisers are covered by the UKA's insurance.
7. Provided an appointment for measurement has been made, the permit may be issued in advance of completion of the course measurement. If subsequently a Certificate of Course Accuracy is not obtained then the permit is liable to be withdrawn.
   Note: A race, which does not mention a distance (e.g. some county relays) or one that is multi-terrain and so can not be measured accurately, can obtain a permit without having a measurement certificate.

HOW DO I RENEW AN UKA CERTIFICATE OF COURSE ACCURACY ?

1. If the course has not changed at all, and there are no changes to start or finish, nor at any corner or in the section of road available to runners, then you may apply for renewal of certificates not more than 10 years old. (i.e. certificates issued in 1997 will not be renewed for races to be held in 2007.)
2. If your race is in the South of England (SEAA area), you can supply all the details for the renewal using an on-line form on this website at coursemeasurement.org.uk/renew Your renewal certificate will be emailed to you within 14 days.
3. The alternative for those not in the South or without web & email access is to supply the details on paper. With your permit application using the course measurement scheme form, you can certify that the course will be entirely unchanged since the original measurement. When the permit secretary receives the form he will forward it to the measurement secretary for action.
4. The renewed Certificate of Course Accuracy must be on display to runners and officials on race day.
5. For certificates more than ten years old either a remeasurement should be arranged, or a measurer with current knowledge of the course should inspect the original measurement report and if he can confirm to the area measurement secretary that no changes have taken place then a new certificate will be issued.
   • Note: The race director must be in possession of a copy of the original race measurement report and consult it each year. Experience shows that if a race organisation relies on memory, changes can sometimes unfortunately creep in which may result in short courses. Copies of the original race measurement report are held on file by the area Course Measurement Secretary and possibly also by the original measurer. Copies may be obtained by any runner, official or race organiser. For the South send £2 to

HOW MUCH OFF-ROAD SURFACE IS PERMITTED BEFORE A RACE IS MULTI-TERRAIN?

A firm off-road surface such as smooth grass or dirt can be measured with an accuracy of about 1% using a calibration done on a road surface. At a recent meeting of the Course Measurement Working Party the following guidelines were agreed for the maximum amount of such off road surface which could be used and still retain the overall accuracy of measurement of a road race:
• Up to 10k - 10% off-road allowed
• Amount over 10k - 5% off-road allowed
For a number of popular race distances this gives the following amounts of off- road surface:
• 5k - 0.5 km
• 10k - 1 km
• 10 miles - 1.3 km
• Half marathon - 1.6 km
• 20 miles - 2.1 km
• Marathon - 2.6 km
For races which exceed the above amounts of off-road surface it may be impossible to issue a certificate of course accuracy. These races should therefore be classed as multi-terrain on the permit application form.

HOW DO I BECOME A COURSE MEASURER ?

• To become an accredited course measurer in the UKA it is necessary to attend a training seminar.
• The seminar which usually lasts two days explains the method of using a calibrated bicycle, explains the necessary calculations, and gives practice in measuring courses. At the end of the seminar, the trainee has to write up a measurement report on one of the practice measurments he has made. If he shows an understanding of the methods, and if his practical and written report is up to scratch, then he is recommended to the chairman of the UK Athletics Course Measurement Working Party for appointment as a grade 2 measurer.
• An alternative, an on-line training method became available in 2005. This consists of theory lessons given over web and backed up with email or free internet phone interaction with a tutor. Followed by a one day practical seminar. This has the advantage that the novices can became familiar with the measurement at their own pace as they work through the introductory lesson followed by ten theory lessons.
• Most people who can ride a bike steadly and cope with the simple calculator maths have no difficulty in qualifying, although some do find the seminar to be quite an intense learning experience. But as with all things it becomes easier when they return home and measure a few courses. Very few fail to make the grade.
• At present we are encouraging would be measurers to do the on-line theory lessons, and then we will offer a one day practical which can be organised at a convenient location, either for a single measurer in which case you will probably be asked to travel to the home ground of an instructor, such as Abingdon. However, if there is a demand from a group of trainee measurers, an instructor may be able to arrange the practical at a suitable location in their vicinity.
  There is no limitation on the numbers who can try their hand at the introductory lesson, but due to the cost of practical seminars and the free issue Jones-Oerth counter, we limit the number of people trained and try and provide a reasonable spread across the UKA. Also we do try and avoid too many measurers in one location, since too many measurers would lead to too few opportunities for measuring, and the newly qualified measurer does need some measurement opportunities to reinforce what he has learnt. So please either make contact with local measurers within 15 to 20 miles and ask whether a new measurer is needed in your area, or consult your area measurement secretary.

HELP! I KNOW MY COURSE HAS BEEN MEASURED BUT I CAN'T FIND THE CERTIFICATE NUMBER

• Use links on left for your area of England, and then search in the lists for your course. Then check that the date given there for the measurement corresponds the date recorded on the measurer's report which he should have sent to the race director.
• If you cannot find the course in the lists, check your measurement report and contact the area measurement secretary and supply details of the course name, the measurer's name, and the date measured.
• If you cant find the measurement report, then you first need is to get a copy of it.
  Try:
  1. The original racedirector if it was not you
  2. The measurer if known
  3. Area measurement secretary, but supply all details you can so that he can track the report down in his archive.