This Company Wants to Change the Virtual Racing Experience

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Buy a bib, run a certified course at your convenience, record an official time. Can it be that simple?

last month along the Jordan River Parkway in West Jordan, Utah, just south of Salt Lake City.

The offerings include a 5K , a 10K , a half marathon , and a marathon , on certified courses. The event website calls it a “self-supported race” with advanced timing technology built into the course.Runners register online, they are shipped a bib with a timing chip, and they can do the race they signed up for whenever they feel like it. Participants also get race shirts, and for the half and full marathon runners, finisher medals.

The system is the brainchild of Lane Brooks, the company’s owner, who is an M.I.T. graduate and an electrical engineer. When the pandemic hit, the virtual race option left Brooksee employees wondering how they could do better.Runner’s WorldThey spent the next two months developing the OYO race system. The start and finish line mats are in a private parking lot adjacent to the Jordan River Parkway.

So far, Brooksee has sold several hundred entries and has had around 200 finishers, but not everyone has raced yet. That convenience of picking the time to race is one of the most popular features, Rohatinsky said, and in some ways makes up for what’s missing in a typical race.“It’s not intended to be a replacement for the L.A. Marathon or the Portland Marathon,” he said. “We can’t replicate the thousands of screaming spectators out there. We can’t replicate the on-course support.

The company is working to see if it can introduce OYO races in other cities. They’re also hoping to get the courses certified by USATF, so they’re eligible as qualifiers for the

 

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That's an improvement over DYI virtual races, but I'm not interested. I want to race other people. Running with a phone is also a non-starter. I never run with a phone except in the winter. I'm certainly not going to race with a phone.

No thanks.

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