I bet a few of the particles cheated and took a shortcut through the collider. OK, not exactly a shortcut, but the inside of the curves like a racecar driver does. Cut the corners as close as you can and the distance is reduced making it look as if it was faster. Some day I'm going to try measuring the distance to the in-laws (almost 1000 miles away) and figure out how much shorter it is to always take the inside lane on the curves of the expressway. I'll bet it saves a mile or two.