Remembering Ray Nelson - road race course certifier

USATF New England lost a significant contributor to our sport this week when Ray Nelson (Warwick, Rhode Island) passed away on Monday at age 76. 

While Ray was an accomplished distance runner with personal bests of 2:23:30 in the marathon and ultra-marathon credentials of 5:57:37 for 50 miles, he was best known as a course mesurer and certifier, measuring hundreds of courses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Ray's interest in measurement began in the late 1970's to satisfy his own curiosity about the accuracy of courses he ran on, but quickly grew to doing measurement for USATF certification and he was named one of the first regional certifiers allowing review and approval of others' measurement work. He was eventually recognized as a World Athletics Grade B Measurer.

In 1986, Ray was recruited to measure the Boston Marathon course for certification, and he became the 'house' measurer for B.A.A. events through 2021.  He was also the lead measurer for the 2008 US Olympic Trials course measurement in Boston.

Many races with certified courses in Rhode Island would not only include "Certified Course" in the description but also "by Ray Nelson", indicating his reputation for quality work. 
In his professional life, Ray was a special education teacher for many years. 
He was the USATF-New England 2016 "Volunteer of the Year" for his long-time service to the sport.