Race organizers of the Big House 5K: Trail to the Victors at University of Michigan offered RaceJoy’s advanced tracking and cheers as a free service this last weekend. Participants and spectators embraced the technology with more than 500 users on race day!
University-centered races such as this typically have higher usage in RaceJoy. These types of races have a greater proportion of Millennials and tend to show fast adoption of technology and are power users of mobile apps. Another trend: the number of runners carrying their phones while running continues to be on the rise. A 2015 National Runner Survey from Running USA reported that 57% of runners now carry phones while running. Those who downloaded RaceJoy for the Big House 5K were treated to live continuous tracking, GPS-based progress alerts, and cheer sending. We had all types using RaceJoy this last weekend – from six minute mile pace runners to 20 minute mile pace.
The 3rd annual 5K marked the 150th anniversary of intercollegiate sports at Michigan. The race, owned and managed by the University of Michigan Athletic Department in conjunction with the Ann Arbor Track Club, started the race near the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus and finished on the University of Michigan’s football stadium, the Big House. #GoBlue
Check out these runners – notice they have phones!
Participants received progress alerts at every mile, based on the GPS location using their phones. The alerts include information like pace and estimated finish time and the participant can opt to post these alerts to Facebook or Twitter. More than 1,350 alerts were sent!
Thank you, Michigan runners and race organizers for including RaceJoy as part of of your race experience! We hope you had a great race day!
RaceJoy for Races:
RaceJoy’s buyout option is available for any race to offer RaceJoy’s advanced tracking and cheers. You can easily get your race loaded through RaceJoy’s Website or on your race’s RunSignUp dashboard. We require a two-week minimum load time.
With the RaceJoy buyout, the race receives RaceJoy’s advanced tracking and cheers for unlimited participants and spectators as well as:
- Listing in Featured Races area in RaceJoy for cross promotion
- Custom, basic race information
- Logo placements
- Link to race website
- Customized banner ads
- Interactive course map(s)
- Custom GPS alerts to showcase race/sponsor
- Countdown/start clock
Races that want to offer RaceJoy are still able to offer the free-to-the-race option in which the participant and spectator pay 99 cents at a given race.
Together, we are changing the race experience!
