The Dublin City marathon, scheduled for October 25th, will be the first race in Ireland which uses special microchips to record starting and finishing times. In a new initiative, the "Champion Chip", which has been used in many of the big races throughout the world, will be placed in each entrant's shoe before the race. It automatically records the time as the competitors cross the start and finish lines. The cost of the whole operation is in the region of £3,000. Money well spent.