RTRT.me (Real-Time Race Tracking) is new to the ranks of the Running USA membership. As a result, the US-based trade organisation has showcased RTRT’s technology platform, and what it can do to elevate its members’ alternative event formats.
Since its origins, RTRT has tracked 10,220,128 finishers in 1,839 events globally. It has recently been adapting to the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, and a recent shift to virtual racing.
RTRT is focused on providing a memorable participant experience, even when the runner doesn’t leave their own neighbourhood. A live map view in the RTRT app allows a runner to see both their personal progress and a projection of others who would be running nearby, were they in the same location.
Elevation comparisons are offered, and there is also the ability to hide personal performance data if the runner doesn’t wish to share with the world.
Data coming from the runners’ GPS is used to emulate what would happen in a real race, including split times, which normally would come from timing mats located along the course. Those who have decided to jump into a car or ride a bike can be detected, just as they would be on a normal course.
Runners also receive a ‘100m to go’ cue when the race is almost done, providing an extra jolt of finish line excitement.
“It’s something about the competitive feeling of going out and doing ‘The Race’, on the time and day of the race, that’s very inspiring to people,” said Jeremy Dill, founder and CEO of RTRT.
“Leading up to the start of the event, there’s a countdown clock, and you can’t actually start until the race starts.
“There’s then a window of opportunity in which you can start, until the start is closed. We’re emulating what it would be like to be in a real race. You should get the jitters and think ‘I’ve got to go out there and run,’ because now there are other people running with me.”
Dill said that starting in March, his team was thrilled to have something to work on that kept runners running, and races operating, and enthusiastically jumped into a new programming challenge.
“We want to see events not cancel, especially charity events. If the charity event can still happen, even if it’s a different experience, we want it to continue. Our feedback from customers has been – wow – that was way more fun than we expected.”
As autumn/fall races continue to cancel due to the pandemic, RTRT argues that it can help – and is keen to do so.
“We really want to do larger races using this technology. Our scalability is our number one strength,” said Dill. “We know that we can do a live race with thousands and thousands of people, all at the same time, and just have something amazing happen that probably isn’t possible on most other platforms right now.”
www.rtrt.me
www.runningusa.org
