Last year, Chris Zieman of Felton was the first-place winner, despite the fact that he was the second runner to cross the finish line.

The race's results were recorded using chip timing, where a runner's start time is calculated from the time he or she passes over a starting mat to the time the finish line is crossed.

Zieman and Palo Alto resident Kevin Pierpoint started the race at the same time, but Pierpoint crossed the starting line seconds ahead of Zieman. He crossed the finish line first, too.

But over the course of the four-mile run from Saratoga to Los Gatos down Highway 9, Zieman caught up just enough to clock in 0.8 seconds faster than his competitor.

This year, gun time--the time from when the starting gun is fired to when a runner crosses the finish line--will determine the placement of the first 20 men and first 20 women.

Buzz Ayola, whose company times the race, said chip timing is easier than other past methods and is still going to be used to rank the finishers after the top 20 placers for each gender.

While the 2004 Great Race was the only one in which chip timing was a problem for him, he heard from many other timing professionals who experienced the same thing.

"We finally said it's just not worth the hassle to have to deal with it," Ayola said.

In fact, USA Track & Field, the organization that governs U.S. races, changed its competition rules to address the problem.

Great Race co-director Dick Ryan said he is relieved that the timing issue has been clarified. He joined with co-director Mike Norcia and a team of about 20 other Rotarians last fall to plan this year's race. This is the third time Ryan has served as a race director.

"Every time I've done this, I've learned something new," he said.

Between 2,600 and 2,800 runners are expected to participate in the April 3 event. Proceeds are allotted to several areas of community service, Ryan said.

"About a third of what we raise goes into a scholarship fund for high school students in Los Gatos," he said.

The rest of the money is distributed between local charities and Rotary International's World Community Service program. That program links Rotary clubs in two or more countries in order to complete humanitarian projects. Last year, the race raised $42,000.

The 2005 Great Race begins April 3 at 9 a.m. in Saratoga. Registration forms are available at Athletic Performance and Runners Factory in Los Gatos or The Running Revolution in Campbell; and online at www.losgatosrotary.org. There is a registration fee of $25.