ChampionChip® Chosen by World Marathon Majors® for 2008 – Reliability is paramount for world\’s most prestigious marathons

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – (March 25, 2008) – The five commercial marathons which comprise the World Marathon Majors®, the richest and most prestigious series of marathon races in the world, will rely on ChampionChip® timing for 2008. With a $1,000,000 series purse to be awarded to the overall points winners, plus millions more in prize and bonus money distributed by the individual events throughout the year, there is no room for error in timing and scoring.

"With nearly 14 years of real world timing experience behind us ChampionChip® is by far the most tested and trusted form of active sports timing," said Mike Burns, President of ChampionChip USA. "Nothing combines reliability with accuracy like ChampionChip®."

The five races in the World Marathon Majors – the Boston Marathon, Flora London Marathon, real,- Berlin Marathon, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and ING New York City Marathon – had a combined total of 152,000 finishers in 2007, each one of them timed with a ChampionChip® transponder. From the lashing rains of Boston to the historic heat of Chicago, ChampionChip® equipment quietly recorded each finisher with little fanfare.

"It just works," said Burns. "It's one less worry for these race directors."

About ChampionChip® and how it works

ChampionChip® was founded in November 1993 in The Netherlands. Its automatic timing system was introduced in September 1994 at the Berlin Marathon. Over the past 14 years, ChampionChip® has consistently been the #1 choice of the world's best timers.

Utilizing the radio frequency identification system from Texas Instruments, which is the same technology used in security locks in cars or admission control in buildings, the ChampionChip® system comprises chips, mats and controller boxes that together collect the data that racers then see as results. Within each chip is a mini transponder and energizing coil housed in specially designed plastic casing that protects it in all weather conditions. Mats placed in strategic locations have send and receive antennas in them and are connected to a yellow controller box at the side of the course, which contains electronics and batteries.

Each chip contains a unique identification number so every time an athlete steps on the mat, the energizing coil, stimulated by the eletromagnetic field created by the send antenna in the mat, produces an electric current that powers the chip. The transponder transmits the unique ID number to the receive antenna. The number and corresponding time are stored in the yellow box and transferred to a timing computer. The whole process takes approximately 60 milliseconds.

Since 1997, ChampionChip USA has been providing this technology to the U.S. market. Today, through a network of more than 70 professional timers in the USA, ChampionChip® equipment scores more than 3,500 events annually in the United States. For more information, go to: ChampionChipUSA.com