Champion chips

Citation

(1999), "Champion chips", Work Study, Vol. 48 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.1999.07948dab.003

Champion chips

The use of the ChampionChip - a microchip attached to each entrant's shoes - was extended this year to 2000 young runners and 40 young wheelchair participants in the Times mini-marathon of the London Marathon. Adult wheelchair racers, numbering up to 50, also used the technology. Data collected via these chips at points around the course was relayed instantly to David Coleman and his colleagues at the BBC, and to the media centre - accurate finishing and split times for all participants being available quicker than ever. For the first time, participants and spectators could order official event merchandise from the new Flora London Marathon Web site, created by EDS. In addition, a comprehensive list of finish and split times for all participants was published on the site within hours of the event. ChampionChip technology has made it possible to track individual or group progress according to a variety of criteria. Last year, EDS presented awards to the fastest IT runners. This year, the scheme was greatly extended to celebrate the contribution of runners from a number of specific industries and EDS used the data collected to identify and reward the fastest finisher in each of the following categories:

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  IT runner (male, female, veteran);

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  Retail sector runner (male, female, veteran);

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  Banking sector runner (male, female, veteran);

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  Manufacturing sector runner (male, female, veteran);

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  Insurance sector runner (male, female, veteran).

Winners were invited to a presentation and EDS made a donation on their behalf to the charity of their choice. EDS can be visited via the Internet at http://www.eds.com