This past weekend, RaceJoy was available for many different road races across the country, including two ultra distance courses where we experienced record-breaking usage by some incredible long-distance athletes.
The longest usage of RaceJoy’s GPS tracking to date occurred at this past weekend’s Burning River 100 Mile event in Willoughby, Ohio with close to 30 hours of live tracking. One race participant in particular, Jeff, was tracked for more than 28 hours and was one of the finishers of the 100-mile race. Jordan was another solo runner in the 100-mile course and was live tracked for more than 26 straight hours. Yes, Jeff and Jordan had the harder job to do compared to RaceJoy, but that is some impressive tracking of some incredible athletes!
Jordan shared with us that he used an Android Turbo phone for the first 15 hours and at mile 75 he plugged his phone into an Anker portable charger. At that point he still had 35-40% battery left in his phone. Sounds like one charged up phone (pun intended), and 15 hours of GPS tracking before adding on a battery is definitely a record for us.
Race organizers who work with RaceJoy have the flexibility to customize the GPS-based progress alerts issued through RaceJoy or to use our standard mile marker alerts. The Burning River race director provided us with specific locations and unique naming for customized Station alerts set up throughout the course. These Stations served as check points for solo runners and as transitions for the 100-mile relay participants. Some of the Stations along the Burning River were at locations such as:
- Shadow Lake
- Snowville
- Pine Lane
- Polo Fields
- Old Mill
RaceJoy issued performance information as participants crossed these points on the course. RaceJoy also issued finish alerts for participants that were within 30 seconds of official race timed finish alerts. Not too bad for 100 miles of GPS-based tracking!
Race director of the Burning River, Jim Christ, shared:
I just had to send you a note to let you know the RaceJoy app was amazing over the weekend.
I tracked a 100-mile participant and a relay runner to see how it worked. At our post race social one of the 100 miler’s raved about how he knew whether he was on/off course, and his crew and family loved sending him cheers and tracking him. He tucked his smartphone in one race vest pocket and an extra battery in the other…connected them together and was all set.
I can’t tell you how satisfied we are with your app. Having the ability to track people in park systems (off road) on a 100 mile point-to-point course is so important at many levels, including potential medical emergencies.
Thank you!
RaceJoy reached another exciting milestone this weekend at the Ultra Around the Lake race. Sarah, a marathon participant, used RaceJoy’s live GPS tracking for close to 8 hours without aid from external battery sources. Sarah used an Apple phone and did not have assistance from a Turbo boosted phone like Jordan. With most tracking apps lasting about 3 hours, this showcases RaceJoy’s impressive optimization of the phone’s battery. Along with live tracking, Sarah received GPS-based progress alerts at every mile along the marathon course.
With the determination of these ultra distance runners and the ever-improving technology of RaceJoy, participants across the country were able to have family and friends share in their impressive accomplishments and receive the support and motivation from those they care about. Thanks to all of you who used RaceJoy and a big congratulations to these dedicated finishers!
The Burning River Endurance Run & Relay is an exciting 100- and 50-mile solo run and 100 mile relay. The race travels through several of the Northwest Ohio region’s most scenic areas, including the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Cleveland Metroparks and the Summit Metroparks.
The Ultra Around the Lake race is held by the Somerville Road Runners and offers four events – 24-hour ultra, 12-hour ultra, 24-hour relay and a marathon. The courses are flat on sidewalks and paths around the scenic Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts. The 24-hour race raises funds each year for Wakefield Educational Foundation and Christmas in the City.
