Doing IM Wisc. Wife and baby coming along for the ride (not literally). I’ve heard you can track an athlete throughout the race. Is this true, and how does it work? I don’t expect them to hang out for the entire 11-12 hrs it will take me (maybe longer), but maybe if they know where I am on the course they can cheer me on when I’m passing through one of my loops. Any suggestions, places for them to hang out, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Will have our laptop to track.
Ironman Live athlete tracking. The link isn’t available until race day. I haven’t done Wisconsin, so i can’t help with best location to watch.
Good luck and enjoy the race.
There’s a restaurant right at start/end of the ‘loops’. I forget the name, but I went there to eat a few days before, and it was nice, and they have a lot of people there on the deck just watching the riders go by. Hopefully someone here knows he name.
Its in Verona, I think its on Whalen Road. Damned if I could remember the name…
I believe MyAthlete.biz will be at the race, and their product does real time live tracking. Write John a note and ask
him about it. They will have units at IMLP also.
Dave
PM me. I received a excel program that you can plug in your estimated times on the swim, bike and run and it will give you an idea on what time you will be at various points on the course.
I’m new as a participant, but as a spectator this is one of my greatest pet peeves. We went to support a friend at IMAZ (17 hour finisher) and it was awful trying to gauge when he might come by next. We were at the finish for HOURS because we were unsure of his pace. We were so tired from being there that we almost missed him when he finally hit the chute.
The solution is super simple but for some reason not being done. I’m not sure how they populate the website from the timing mats but it’s obviously a feed of some sort (RSS?). That same feed could be used to generate a text message to friends/family of the racer so they have real-time info and can get in position to cheer.
Use case #1
- During registration, athlete enters three (can be any number) mobile numbers of friends/family that will receive alerts during the race.
- Every time the athlete hits the timing mat a message is sent to the recipients so that they can see how things are going and more accurately estimate when their athlete will appear next.
Use Case #2
- WAP (mobile) website with a simple field to enter the race number of your athlete. Hit submit and you get the info for the last mat they crossed.
Neither of these is expensive and can be turned around in no time.
Full Disclosure: I’m a partner in a mobile marketing company and have even emailed a well-known race director about such a solution. No answer.
I believe MyAthlete.biz will be at the race, and their product does real time live tracking. Write John a note and ask
him about it. They will have units at IMLP also.
Dave
Fuck me… that’s a brilliant, brilliant thing.
These Mat systems are out at a lot of the races now. Most of the big races have contracts for this type of thing. Not very flexible or cheap since you have to have
a mat per timing point.
Dave
Athlete tracker on Ironmanlive.
You pass through various spots within a half mile about a gazillion times on the run I think. I believe it was State St. I just remember my family hanging out around a Mexican restaraunt drinking Margaritas. They were more and more tanked every time I saw them. It was quite entertaining for me and everyone else as they yelled louder and louder. It seems they build these races around good watering holes. Lake Placid has the Brewery right across the street from the swim start. My brother loved that, oh and Louisville has 4th street live with BBC Brewing up the street. I need to spectate a race one of these days. That’s all I know.
Will you be at IMLP?
My family would be interested in that for sure.
Andrew
I believe this is already available. This link mentions it: http://ironman.com/ironmanlive
Also a friend of mine built the exact software that you mention and was going to present it to NAS/WTC but was just a little late as he tested it at IM Australia (late last year) and then they started it at IM Arizona (early this year). he was about 6 months late…
BB
I’ve found Ironman Live to be woefully unreliable for quick splits when trying to track friends in IM and half-IM races. They are usually slow to update, online at least. Not sure about the text message feature.
Anyone have any reviews of the MyAthlete.biz gig? It sounds like it would be worth the investment, especially since my wife is over 6 months pregnant right now, and I’d like to minimize the amount of time she has to wait around for me at IMLP…
I am not sure when they are going full blown but trakers http://www.trakkersgps.com/ will be out there soon and will be the death of the IM live. It looks really good to me and they are sponsoring some athletes at the moment but I am not exactly sure when they are going live
Nope, but what I suggest is you write John at MyAthlete.biz and ask about a unit for the race.
Using in the race is cool. Using for training is what REALLY makes my wife happy!!!
info@myathlete.biz
Dave
I have been testing and using the MyAthlete unit for many months. It is the real deal. Live, real time, accurate.
They are hoping to have the real website up anytime soon, maybe for IMLP. Lots of others are talking,
but from the info I have seen, this product is way ahead of the others. Ask away at any questions
and I will try to answer for ya.
Dave
How big is the unit… and how much does it weigh… I can’t really see from the photos
I and 40 others wear it during boston. Never knew I had it on.
I have not weighed it, but it is light, IMO.
I have worn during a few races, and daily for training. Never know I have it on.
I would much prefer a race belt type unit rather than having something on my wrist.
I know wearing my 305 bugs me.
Let me try to get more specifics for ya.
Dave
Cool, many thanks
Tim
.
I found some pictures of it on this link…looks kind of big…