On a sunny, if cold, morning in
April a few of the team descended into the snowy Derbyshire countryside to test
the first incarnation of the Marathon Live App, as well as get some first-hand
experience in being a spectator at a running event. The event itself was the
Wirksworth Wiggle, a 10Km event of approximately 100 competitors, predominantly
cross-country, raising funds for the local fire fighting service.
On arrival, we split up as best
we could, with one of the team situated at the start / finish line, and two
others placed along the main straight, about 2/3rd’s into the race.
It became apparent quite early that with such a short event (the top runners
would easily be finished in under an hour) we would have to settle in the one
position to watch, especially as the cross-country nature of the course meant
driving around the route was not an option.
During the event the main
features of the app worked well, allowing the user to video the event easily
when chosen, and also to identify or ‘tag’ the runners in the video
retrospectively after recording had finished. Although this is the case, issues
were discovered regarding the ease, and perhaps more importantly the moment of
tagging, which will need to be addressed in future development. Overall however
the trial was a success, with a large proportion of the competitors recorded
and identified in more than one location. A typical video clip taken can be found here:
Behavioural trends were also
noticed in regards to the different agents involved, be it spectators or
competitors. It was found that spectators’ recording habits depended both on race
progression and geographical position. Towards the middle of the event, longer
videos were taken often of a panoramic ‘sweeping’ nature, perhaps in
anticipation of the next group of runners appearing in view. Towards the end of
the event, the videos recorded were much shorter and often static. Also longer
videos were taken when the spectator was positioned along a straight part of
the course, perhaps reflecting the fact that runners were visible from a
greater distance.
The competitors’ reaction to
being videoed was overwhelmingly positive in nature, with many runners saying
hello and giving ‘thumbs-up’ gestures to the spectator and the device.
It is hoped to have a follow up
trial at an event early to mid-June, to test version 2.0 of the app and
continue studies regarding spectator behaviour.
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