San Quentin’s 1000 Mile Club joined the technology age of race management.
Instead of relying on outside staff to count laps manually, the May 17 race used RaceReady, an electronic system with radio frequency identification, better known as RFID, to count runners’ laps.
“I think it’s something that can be used to eliminate the possibility of runners’ laps being missed especially for long races. I want every lap to be accounted for and this timer will do that for us,” said resident Jose Fajardo, Who broke last season’s marathon record.
Friends of outside volunteers donated the timer equipment. Tim Fitzpatrick, a 1000 Mile Club coach, said no other CDCR facilities have RaceReady technology.
Maloney said the club started training for the big one, the 26.2 mile San Quentin Marathon, and pointed out the club used RaceReady for the second time.
Volunteer Arron Ford who came in specifically for the implementation of the RaceReady, talked about the importance of this technology.
“Bringing this new technology into San Quentin helps us volunteers focus on the runners overall wellbeing in the moment of the race, instead of focusing on counting laps, and not just physically but their mental well-being too” said Ford.
Ford talked about how the timer technology would provide a more accurate measurement of runners’ times. Runners took number tags called “bibs,” which contained microchips. The runners then wore the bibs on top of their shirts.
A timing strip lay on the start-to-finish mark. Every time runners passed over the strip, RaceReady counted the laps, adding the data to the 1000 Mile Club’s laptop’s database of names and assigned race numbers.
The technology might have one drawback. Maloney said reduced communication during the race might create some challenges to building mentoring relationships between coaches and runners.
“We build connections counting laps manually, letting runners know their lap count as they pass by. Now, we hand out water, electrolytes, and energy chews to encourage and support them during a race,” said Maloney.
The race ended with RaceReady recording Fajardo as sparking an overall win for the 10-mile race with a time of one hour, three minutes, and 33 seconds.
“I always have butterflies before a race,” said resident Marko Johnson. “It sounds easy but it’s really hard when you need be at your best for that race day. I feel content and confident after because I get to check something off of my bucket list through accomplishment. Best of all, I get to tell my family I ran a 10-mile race.”
Rookie runner Antonio Brown said, “I feel the excitement of accomplishing my goal of 10 miles for today, and training for the next one.”
Coach Fitzpatrick said, “This club gives a sense of community. There’s good runners with good times … we love these guys.”
Resident Jose Maya talked about how running helped him to keep calm and from thinking about home, and gave him the confidence to come out and decompress from those anxieties.
“I feel the exhilaration of my spirits, its uplifting to be out participating. I feel the inner peace because when I am running, it’s just me and the track, giving it my focus,” said Maya.
The newer runners met the 1000 Mile Club’s legendary volunteer coach Frank Ruona who retired last year. He said he still visited San Quentin for events but not for weekday workouts and team meetings.
“Race day is about camaraderie,” said Ruona. “Even if old-fashioned stopwatches were used it didn’t matter.”
