New York Times: Runners and Cyclists Use GPS Mapping to Make Art. “Fitness apps and the power of live satellite tracking have allowed runners, cyclists and others to draw hearts, animals, birthday wishes — and even homages to Vermeer — across their local landscapes.”
Outside Business Journal: Outside Inc. acquires sports database Fastest Known Time. “Outside Inc., Outside Business Journal’s Boulder, Colo.-based parent company, has announced its acquisition of Fastest Known Time (FKT), an online database of speed records in running, hiking, and endurance sports.”
New York Times: What I’ve Learned From Running Marathons. ” I’ve never been more uncertain about the future than I am now. But I have learned one thing. Over the past two years, in almost every part of my life, I’ve had no choice but to slow down — and the world didn’t end, as I feared. Like many others, I’m ending this year realizing the life I had before the pandemic isn’t waiting for me on the other side. We all lost a lot. It’s time to figure out what to do with what’s left.”
Canadian Running: Social media is changing track and field for the better. “Platforms like Instagram and YouTube are providing greater access to the sport for fans, and allowing athletes to promote themselves in a way they never could before.”
Stuff NZ: Boston Marathon’s plan to hand out 70,000 medals roils runners. “Rival camps in the running world began snapping at each other’s heels this week. It began after the Boston Athletic Association, which still hopes to hold a truncated in-person edition of the planet’s most prestigious footrace in October, said it will award medals to up to 70,000 athletes if they go the distance wherever they are. Practically within minutes of the BAA’s announcement greatly expanding its virtual version of the race, a boisterous social media maelstrom ensued.”
VentureBeat: Google’s Project Guideline uses AI to help low-vision users navigate running courses. “In collaboration with nonprofit organization Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Google today piloted an AI system called Project Guideline, designed to help blind and low-vision people run races independently with just a smartphone. Using an app that tracked the virtual race via GPS and a Google-designed harness that delivered audio prompts to indicate the location of a prepainted line, Guiding Eyes for the Blind CEO Thomas Panek attempted to run New York Road Runners’ Virtual Run for Thanks 5K in Central Park.”
Washington Post: World’s fastest blind athlete and his running partner try to stay in sync as they remain apart. “The relationship between David Brown and Jerome Avery is as unique as they come in the sports world. Avery has been by Brown’s side for all of his most successful moments. They have been literally tethered together as they have sprinted down the track, legs pumping and arms swinging in perfect rhythm. Brown, 27, is the fastest blind sprinter on the planet and the first to run 100 meters in under 11 seconds. Avery, 41, serves as his eyes on the track. As Brown’s running guide, Avery sprints right next to him in training and competitions, escorting him from the starting blocks to the finish line…. Over the past four years, the two have been preparing for the Tokyo Paralympics, but their training has been upended by the novel coronavirus pandemic. […]
Canadian Running: Notable running statistician Ken Young dies . “Notable running statistician Ken Young died recently, Japan Running News reports. He was 76. Young co-founded the volunteer-run Association of Road Racing Statisticians, and, according to the website’s bio of Young, maintained the online database…of more than 400,000 runners. The database includes more than 1.2 million performances. The ARRS database is free to access.”
New-to-me: an online database of running shoes. “A former competitive cross-country runner turned statistics instructor, [Jens Jakob] Andersen parlayed his love of running and shoes into a side gig by opening up his own run specialty shop. However, he soon became disillusioned by the sales process…. It was the combination of these experiences that led Andersen to develop RunRepeat, an online database of running shoes with a neutral, transparent and holistic approach. The database compiles 960 running shoes, 165,624 user reviews and 5193 expert reviews to assign each shoe a ‘Runscore’ between 0 and 100.” NO ADVERTISING!
A new database in England wants to connect visually-impaired people to “guide runners”. “The database is an online tool for anyone aged 18-years or older with a visual impairment in England, whether they have never run before, are a gym-goer looking to take their running outdoors or a seasoned runner looking for a new guide. It will enable visually impaired people to go for a run on their own, join a club or running group or take part in an event or race.”
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