On Sunday, I had one of those moments when you think: "Man, technology is bloody wonderful."
I had this moment of technological appreciation as I sat on the damp grass under a gazebo at Boschendal Wine Estate with a large group of other sweaty runners. We were watching a South African athlete take the runner-up spot in the women's race at the second Red Bull Wings for Life World Run. What made this moment so incredible was that she outdid thousands of participants competing at 35 venues in 33 countries.
Well, all but one.
As SA's Riana van Niekerk trudged along the tarmac in the Stellenbosch afternoon sunshine, roughly 15 000km away Yuuko Watanabe was navigating more than 56km on a cool evening in Takashima, central Japan. Although these two phenomenal women were not actually running alongside each other, through the power of technology they were able to push each other to a nail-biting finish. The big screen at the Finisher's Village was split in two, streaming live footage of the mountains and vineyards on our doorstep on one side and the darkness of a small Japanese city on the other.
The men's race was equally as exciting; won by Ethiopian Lemawork Ketema, who managed 79.9km through the historic streets of St Poelten in Austria. His main competitors, C'esar Hern'andez and Remigio Huaman Quispe, were running the course in Santiago de Chile and Peru.
The concept behind the event is rather impressive, if you ask me. There is no fixed distance. The race starts at the same time across the globe. This means: different time zones, different temperatures, different terrain. It means some are racing in the freezing cold in the middle of the night, others have to battle the midday heat. According to Red Bull, there was a 30-degree Celsius temperature difference across the various locations, with runners in India enduring 33-degree heat, while those in Portugal and Germany experienced a rainy race day.
Thirty minutes after the race begins, a "Catcher Car" leaves the start line travelling at 15km/hour. Once it passes an athlete, their race is over. The car increases speed in set increments and eventually travels at 35km/hour until it has caught up to the last runner who is crowned the global winner of the race.
The concept of hosting multiple races simultaneously is not unique - in 2001 the YMCA did something similar when it held the "World's Largest Run" in various locations across the US ? the use of a Catcher Car and moving finish line is new. From a technology perspective, it is probably one of the more ambitious running events.
Catch me if you can
The real innovation of the event is that there is no finish line. Well, there is one but it's mobile. The finish line chases you. Each participant's run lasts for as long as they can stay in front of the vehicle. A timing tag fitted to the runner's race number is activated at the start of the event and deactivated when they are passed by the Catcher Car. At this point, smart analytics records the data around the individual's finishing time and distance travelled.
The real innovation of the event is that there is no finish line. Well, there is one but it's mobile.
This year, SA's own Dakar Rally legend Giniel de Villiers, former Formula One driver David Coulthard, and daredevil base jumper and sky diver Felix Baumgartner were among the drivers behind the wheel of the 35 Catcher Cars. Driving at such a glacial pace must have been quite a tough ask when you consider these three celebrity drivers have found fame for their speedy driving skills.
And for those who couldn't make it to one of the formal events, Red Bull developed a Wings for Life World Run Selfie App. The app put the Chaser Car in the pockets of solo athletes, allowing them to join the global running movement from any location.
Not only does this concept make for an interesting event - essentially you are running away from something and not towards a predetermined finish line - but the integration of technology into the event also makes the race accessible to people of all fitness levels because your race can be as long or short as you want it to be.
A testament to this is the fact that the Swedish leg of the global contest was won by Aron Anderson, the first athlete to win one of the country races in a wheelchair. Anderson's success is fitting considering the event is held in aid of Wings for Life, a spinal cord research foundation. All of the money generated from entry fees, including the Selfie App contributions, is used to raise awareness and fund spinal cord injury research projects.
So on Sunday, technology removed global boundaries, it tracked athletic performance, changed the nature of racing and pushed individuals to outdo each other and themselves. It allowed me to compete with the rest of the world, to run for those who can't and to raise money for a worthy cause.
* A former ITWeb journalist, Joanne Carew now resides in the Mother City, where she is admiring the mountain and completing her Masters studies at UCT.
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