Competitive racing is organized under strict rules and there are approximately 1,000 clubs in the United States with two national organizations:  American Racing Pigeon Union and The International Federation of Homing Pigeon Fanciers.  Two race series are flown each year; one in the Spring (old birds, birds at least one year old) and one in the Fall (young birds, bred the same calendar year).  Races usually start at 100 miles with the longest being 700 miles.  Before racing each competitor must have a specialized "clock" to time the pigeons as they arrive.  In general the following procedure is used.  On Shipping night each fancier brings his birds to the club house and registers his birds for the race, which are placed in shipping baskets.  He also bring his clock which is schronized with a master clock.  All birds registered for the race are then transported to a designated release point and released the morning of the race.  The birds fly home and its arrival time to it's home loft it is clocked and recorded in the "clock".  After the birds arrive home the members gather together with their "clocks" and compute the speeds of the pigeon.  The pigeon with the highest velocity (the distance flown divided by the time taken to complete the course) wins.