Race series debuts both live tracking and participant timing
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Brooksee, the endurance event production and service company behind the Las Vegas Marathon, Portland Marathon, Mesa Marathon and REVEL Race Series, recently deployed its Laurel timing technology at this year’s Ragnar Wasatch Back, the first time the race has featured live tracking and participant timing for all participants. Brooksee’s handheld timing technology enabled timing on all 36 legs of the relay, previously impossible with legacy timing solutions.
With over 120 timing checkpoints along the course, the race had the most timing checkpoints ever of any road race, providing an unprecedented level of participant tracking. Participants and fans received text message alerts and updates every few miles, easing transition zone alerts on participants’ estimated arrival time to the zones. Brooksee’s Laurel timing platform also offers industry-leading safety features for race organizers, including a ‘Back of the Pack’ view of the last participants and alerts if participants stop moving after custom thresholds.
The 20th Ragnar Wasatch Back took place June 7 and 8. Runners started their journey at Utah State University. From there, participants ran through scenic countryside and many small towns including Kamas, Oakley and Francis. With Brooksee’s Laurel technology deployed on the course, teams could view their splits for each of the 36 relay legs for the first time in the race series’ history. After each team member completed their legs, participants crossed under the iconic Ragnar orange arch at the first-ever Brighton Ski Resort finish line.
“We are thrilled to partner with Ragnar to provide their participants with the industry’s best live tracking platform,” said Phil Dumontet, CEO of Brooksee. “Deploying our Laurel timing technology with Ragnar at Wasatch Back and Road Northwest Passage is an exciting first step as we expand our partnership with Ragnar nationwide.”
Brooksee continued their collaboration at this year’s Ragnar Road Northwest Passage and Ragnar Road Minnesota, where Brooksee’s Laurel timing technology was again featured. The Road Northwest Passage is a point-to-point road relay that starts at the Canadian border in the city of Blaine, Washington, and journeys through parts of the scenic Pacific Northwest, including the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges, Deception Pass and the Puget Sound. The relay concludes in Langley, Washington, located on Whidbey Island. The Ragnar Road Minnesota relay race starts in St. Paul and winds through the Minnesota lakes and multiple quaint towns alongside the St. Croix River and wraps up with a finish line at Lake Superior.
“In addition to providing our athletes with accurate timing splits, a way for their families at home to track their progress and a fun, competitive live leaderboard, the added safety feature of Brooksee timing is what’s most important to the Ragnar team. With 3,000+ participants spread across 200 miles of course, our staff simply cannot be everywhere at once,” said Rachel Harrison, road race operations manager at Ragnar. “Brooksee timing and tracking allows our staff to know where every runner is along the course. We even set up “wrong turn” checkpoints that would automatically alert a runner and their team if they missed a critical turn in the course and were headed in the wrong direction. This feature prevented multiple situations of locating lost runners which is always scary and takes away from the magic of a Ragnar experience.”
Brooksee’s Laurel technology is helping the company work towards its mission to make endurance events more exciting for fans, easier to manage for organizers and more enjoyable for runners. Running is one of the lowest spectator sports globally, and Brooksee is providing an extensive update to technology that hasn’t been innovated since the 1990s. Laurel technology brings a new level of data to the sport, unlocking personal bests for runners with real-time ranking stats in-race, higher levels of on-course support and a birds-eye view of all participant locations on course for race organizers.
For more information about Brooksee, visit www.Brooksee.com, and follow them on LinkedIn. You can also follow the Las Vegas Marathon on Instagram and Facebook, the Portland Marathon on Instagram and Facebook, the Mesa Marathon on Instagram and Facebook and the REVEL Race Series on Instagram and Facebook.
ABOUT BROOKSEE
Brooksee is the parent company of the Las Vegas Marathon, Portland Marathon, Mesa Marathon, and REVEL Race Series. Brooksee focuses on elevating the event experience and specializes in event production and event timing. Brooksee will produce nine events in 2024 and will be the official timing provider for 125 additional endurance events from running to cycling and beyond.
