The elapsed time from when a runner crosses the starting line to when they cross the finish line, measured by an electronic timing chip. This represents the actual time spent running the race distance.
'Chip' refers to the electronic timing device, from 'chip' meaning small piece, while 'time' comes from Old English 'tima.' Electronic chip timing was introduced in the 1990s to provide accurate individual times in mass participation events.
Chip-time revolutionized mass participation racing by giving every runner their true performance time, regardless of where they started in the pack. Before chip timing, runners at the back of large marathons could lose several minutes just getting to the start line!
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