The first ever 10K race on the New York City Marathon app is on November 12, 2018. Embracing digital technology with a physical event provides runners and walkers an opportunity to enjoy running in their own unique way. This is not only good for the environment but also allows people of all abilities to participate regardless of time or location.
The “new york city marathon” is an app that allows users to plan their race day. The app has a hybrid design, which means it’s available on both iOS and Android.
The New York City Marathon, like the workplace, has gone hybrid. Spectators will be able to monitor both virtual and in-person racers for the first time this year thanks to an app created by event sponsor Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
Since 2018, the event has accepted virtual participation, and spectators were able to monitor virtual racers last year when the in-person race was canceled due to Covid-19.
App users can track racers physically on the route on a live map as they trek through the city’s five boroughs, with the in-person event resuming Sunday morning. Virtual runners may run the 26.2 miles from anywhere in the globe over the two-week period building up to the marathon, and their progress is tracked on the same map as the NYC event. Virtual runners who are between kilometers 16 and 18 of their race, for example, will show on the marathon map jogging along Manhattan’s First Avenue. For safety reasons, virtual runners may also allow two users to monitor their real physical positions.
The launch of the new app comes as the marathon prepares to resurface after the epidemic halted live events throughout the globe in 2020.
Surya Kant, chairman of TCS North America, stated, “As a technology firm, we are really concerned about the experience that the runners enjoy.”
Mr. Kant, a runner for the previous ten years, will be running in his first New York City Marathon this weekend. Last year, he took part in the virtual version. He says he’s “very excited” for the race on Sunday.
The TCS NYC Marathon app will be able to follow the roughly 30,000 runners who will compete in the in-person marathon on Sunday, as well as virtual racers.
TCS/Jon Simon photo
In-person participation for Sunday’s race is limited to 30,000 participants because to ongoing Covid-19 concerns. In 2019, 54,205 people took part. This year’s event is projected to attract 10,000 virtual runners.
TCS’s president of sports sponsorships in North America, Haley Price, said, “This year’s huge difficulty was how do we merge both the virtual experience and the in-person racing experience under one hybrid platform.”
TCS Interactive, located in Mumbai, created the app, which included an unique algorithm for tracking in-person runners. Radio-frequency identification, or RFID, chips in runners’ bibs transmit live data to the app as they pass sensors placed throughout the route. The program can also anticipate how long it will take a runner to complete a race.
The Global Positioning System, or GPS, on mobile phones is used to track virtual runners.
A 3-D interactive map of the route that depicts elevation variations, spots of interest along the way, and an in-depth look around the start village on Staten Island are among the app’s other new features.
For the real participants, whether on the streets of New York City or elsewhere, technology is unlikely to make the anguish go away. Virtual participants, on the other hand, get access to a slew of additional features.
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A popular aspect from previous year, according to Ms. Price, was the use of augmented technology to enable finishers to snap a photo with a virtual medal. This year, that function is still available, along with a slew of additional AR features, including audio prompts at various times along the course.
“If someone is beginning in their hometown, they can hear the start cannon and cheers from Staten Island,” she explains. Runners may hear words of encouragement and insights from the race’s organizers as they approach key mile marks.
In 2019, the TCS marathon app was downloaded by around 500,000 individuals.
Since 2014, TCS, a subsidiary of the Indian multinational corporation Tata Group, has been the marathon’s title sponsor. Its connection with New York Road Runners, the nonprofit organization that organizes the New York City Marathon, was recently extended through 2029.
Isabelle Bousquette can be reached at [email protected]
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