Prague is a beautiful city. Further west than Vienna, it is the essence of a central European city – cultured, ancient and vibrant. On the weekend that we visited, it was also bathed in the most beautiful sunshine, which meant the streets were thronged with tourists taking in the sights of the city as well as some of the local culinary treats.
We were there as tourists, too, but not in the traditional sense. We were there to find out about the Prague International Marathon and how that race was about to become the first mixed-reality marathon in the world.
For all the things that are great about marathons – and in fact most races – there are a few limitations. Even the biggest races need to have limits on the number of participants. They also need to be on one day at one particular time (otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a race). And they need to be in one particular place – the Prague International Marathon is called that for a reason… it is in Prague.
These obvious qualities of marathons mean that they are not accessible to all. Once you have been successful at getting a place, there is a requirement to get to the race at the right time and date. But now there is an alternative.
At the launch of the next Prague International Marathon there was also an announcement that RunSocial – the only mixed-reality running app in the world – was launching the Prague marathon as its first full marathon route. Now anyone with access to a treadmill and a screen (think iPad or similar) can run the Prague marathon route, from wherever they want and whenever they want. Alone or as part of a group. And they can run the whole race or split it up and run it in sections or run as a relay.
The RunSocial app uses high definition video footage of the Prague marathon route – filmed just before the elite men started the race – which is combined with the ability to run in real-time with other people in the app. Once the app has been downloaded, the user can add as many routes as they want from those available in the store (including the Prague marathon route now) and run them at home or in a gym – anywhere that they have access to a treadmill.
At a launch event for the route in the app in Prague we watched teams racing each other on treadmills set up on a stage and the ability for the teams to see the avatars of the other runners along with a live leaderboard meant that the race became more and more exciting as the participants ‘ran’ through the city that we had been exploring earlier in the day.
Races are becoming more popular – and therefore harder to get in to – and more people want the chance to run in different locations or recce courses that they are running later and RunSocial is doing a great job of addressing some of those needs. An app may not be able to replicate the experience of actually running a big city marathon or a remote, wild trail but as a way of transporting yourself to another place and having the chance to experience that with other people, RunSocial is a great experience. Check it out yourself and let us know what you think.
The RunSocial app is free to download from the iTunes store where routes can be accessed, including some free trial courses.
