RaceJoy Paddles Through Nathan Benderson Park

This weekend, RaceJoy will be offered at its first Stand Up Paddle (SUP) event, the SUP & RUN 5K, taking place in Sarasota, Florida on Saturday, May 25th.

The event offers participants the choice of a 5K run, 5K SUP, or a combined event including both courses. Now in its fifth year, the SUP & RUN 5K benefits Operation Second Chance (OSC). OSC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving Veterans and supporting their families.

Those who participate in the combination SUP & RUN will run the 5K first and then hop on their paddle board for a 5K paddle around Nathan Benderson Park.

As part of this year’s offerings, the race timer has added RaceJoy as a new race day feature for participants and spectators. With RaceJoy, runners and SUPers can kick things up a notch by being tracked live as they complete the course, hearing live progress updates, and receiving motivational cheers from friends and family members.

RaceJoy provides race organizers an ideal solution for events that take place on water, like paddle board events, where timing the course may be a challenge. RaceJoy is becoming even more feasible for courses like this as more phones are designed to handle exposure to water and participants are using waterproof containers for their devices.

Those who download the RaceJoy app and carry their phone on race day will have access to live runner and paddler tracking on an interactive map view. Friends and family at the race site, or from home, can track participants and know exactly where they are on the course or out on the water.

They will also receive GPS-based progress alerts that include information like pace and estimated finish at every mile.

The SUP & Run 5K’s timer, Dug Stetter from Durti Timing, is a RaceJoy Certified Timer (part of RunSignup’s RaceDay Certification Program) and is an example of a timer applying new technology to create a one-of-a-kind experience for participants and spectators.

Good luck runners and SUP’ers!

If you’d like to become a Certified RaceDay Timer, RunSignup is offering another upcoming opportunity:

RunSignup Symposium, Timer Day, July 17: Register for the timer day at RunSignup’s symposium. We are offering two tracks: RaceDay Certification and advanced sessions for those who have already completed the certification.