Question on start server using PG_CTL

Hi folks, were running Postgres 8.2.5 and Linux Redhat.

I run a cron script to start our server using pg_ctl after I copy the data
cluster over from a replicated server.
To test the start success / failure I test for the presence of
postmaster.pid in the cluster.
This weekend, the server started successfully but cron logic went down the
path that postmaster.pid didn't exist.

Do I need to perform another test,
   Or
Is it possible that, during startup, postmaster.pid takes a second or two to
be created and hadn't been created yet when the test was run?
(Test run immediately after start command - perhaps I need to sleep for 5
seconds before the test).
Thanks for your time,

Mark Steben│Database Administrator
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