The Demo Site

In the days following this year’s Chicago Marathon, there were reports of problems with the electronic chip timing system. Some runners were automatically disqualified for failing to record times at some of the checkpoints. It’s a system put into place to ensure that there are no Rosie Ruiz’ who try and skip out on some of the course.

Marathon officials immediately realized that the problem wasn’t with the runners but with the timing system and reinstated about 60 runners.

I’ve written a few times about public relations missteps by marathon organizers. I much prefer writing about when they get it right (and I write those too). This is a great example of a marathon handling a tough situation with class. Acknowledge, analyze and address the situation by apologizing if necessary. The Chicago Marathon could not have handled this any better. It’s what makes them a world class event.

Today we can go even further. I had a family member running the marathon and went to track them on race day but couldn’t get it to work. The I realized they must have been part of the snafu. Then I got the following:

Dear Runner Tracking Registrant,

Active.com is aware of and has looked into the malfunction within the electronic runner tracking system that caused many updates to populate later than anticipated during Sunday’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon. For this inconvenience, we sincerely apologize.

In reviewing the situation we found the issue was the result of technical difficulties with the Active.com system that caused significant delays in reception of messages by registered users. Active.com has identified the cause of the problem and has taken measures to ensure it does not happen again.

It is important to note that the issue was in no way affiliated with
Verizon Wireless, the sponsor of the Marathon Runner Tracking program, or the technology they provided to the event.

Active.com has been part of the running community for more than a decade and nothing is more important to us than the events and runners. Our mission is to enable people to find events that improve their quality of life and then facilitate their participation. When we
fall short of that goal, we not only let the event and runners down, we let ourselves down.

Again, please accept our sincere apology. We greatly value
the running community that trusts Active to provide reliable technology and services. We are committed to making sure your next experience utilizing this service is as seamless as possible.

Sincerely,

Dave Alberga CEO - The Active Network