Fastlane Services measures road race courses for certification and maps race courses for running and walking races and events, from 1 mile to marathon length road races. Road courses can be USATF-certified, in which case we will handle the certification process from start to finish. USATF certification will professionalize your event.
Fastlane Services measures your race route in accordance with USATF specifications. This means your race distance is accurate – your runners can be confident they really did run the advertised distance. Your certified race course also makes all performances run in your race eligible for recognition as USATF records. This is an added benefit you can provide your race participants. A course certification is good for 10 years, provided there are no changes in the race course route during this time.
Whether you already know the route you want or just know where you want the start and/or finish lines to be, we can help. We look at courses from both a runner’s perspective and a race director’s perspective to help you find the best course to fit your needs and budget.
What is Course Certification?
The purpose of a certified course is to produce road race courses of accurately measured distances.
For any road running performance to be accepted as a record or be nationally ranked, it must be run on a USATF-certified course. In addition, the certification program is very important to the average road racer, as well as those of exceptional speed. Most runners like to compare performances run on different courses, and such comparisons are difficult if course distances are not reliable.
What are USATF-Certified Courses?
A USATF-certified course is a road race course whose distance has been certified for accuracy.
Courses must be certified for any road running performance to be accepted as a record or to be nationally ranked. Furthermore, running a race on a certified course allows you to accurately compare your time to performances run on other certified courses because you can be sure the distances were the same.