It would be really neat to have real time tracking in a race says Desiree Linden

In April, Desiree Linden became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon in 33 years. On a cold and rainy day in Massachusetts, Linden didn’t have much belief that she could win the 122nd version of the race. She even slowed down early into the 26.2-mile race to wait her teammate, Shalane Flanagan, so that they could both catch back up to the elite pack together. The Boston Globe questioned whether conditions marked “the worst weather in Boston Marathon history.” After Linden and Flanagan caught back up to the pack, a surprising thing happened. Linden, a 35-year-old professional runner who trains in Michigan, began to pull away. She would end up winning the marathon in 2:39:54, four minutes clear of the second place finisher, fellow American Sarah Sellers.  Most recently Desiree was one of five Americans to finished in the top ten at the New York City Marathon.  The website Sport Techie spoke with Desiree Data Versus Disconnection and other matters.  “Running is still a pure sport where you can go out with just your shoes and kind of disconnect for a long time, which is refreshing in today’s world,” says Desiree. “But then you can implement technology as you go and take as as much data as you want. The range is different for everyone.” “It would be really neat to have real-time tracking in the race via a mechanism in clothes or shoes. They could give you splits during the race every 5k or so, and there could be something in the shoe that could real-time track runners so that people could see heart rate and cadence during the race. I think that’d add an interesting graphic during race broadcasts.” How about the Balance Between Innovation and Ability? Linden“A lot of big companies are attempting to break the two-hour marathon barrier and see the shoe as a place to really make that jump. There’s definitely a movement in shoe technology. I think there’s a lot of brands trying to catch up in that race.” “The question is how much do you let it impact your sport? Is the shoe doing the work or is it still the athlete? It’ll be interesting to watch and see how governing bodies decide if and when technology is taking over the actual capacity of the runner.”

posted Sunday November 18th
by Jen Booton @ SportTechie.com