Great Britain starting off with a bang for the 2021 race season!
This year’s biggest running event on the planet used our updated EventApp connected by Sportunity.
After so many cancellations and reoccurring lockdowns, The Great North Run gathered over 55,000 participants to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the event. The race also served as a debut for the Great Run: Running Events app connected by TRACX, which used the white label version of our updated EventApp. At 09:15 the starting shot sounded for the wheelchairs, shortly followed by the elite women and men, and finally all other enthusiastic racers. The Great North Run was timed by our timing partner FR Systems, using MYLAPS BibTag technology.
For the first time ever, the route had been slightly modified due to the pandemic. However, this did not affect the vibrant atmosphere at all with competitive athletes from all over the world gathered to take part in The Great North Run. Those watching at home didn’t need to miss a second of the action due to the live broadcast on BBC. People could also choose to follow their friends, family members or favourite athletes via the Great Run: Running Events app.
Renewed EventApp for the Great Run
The modified route was not the only change in this edition, as this was also the first time with the updatedEventApp and its new look and feel. Athletes can still benefit from tracking their own performance and sharing post race results, meanwhile fans could benefit from following their friends, family or favourite athletes. This resulted in almost 48.000 app downloads for the Great Run: Running Events app.
All these users together generated 953,255 sessions and a total of 4,419,469 screen views. With 344,750 screen views, LiveTracking was the app’s most popular feature. Many people also searched for their friends, family members or favourite athlete through the ”find participant” feature, which had a total of 197,998 screen views.
Results
Elite men
In the men’s race, Marc Scott took the win. A few seconds after Marc crossed the finish line, Ed Cheserek picked up the silver medal. Galen Rupp finishes in 3rd.
- Marc Scott 01:01:21.008
- Ed Cheserek 01:01:30.055
- Galen Rupp 01:01:50.848
Elite women
In the women’s race, it was a very exciting battle between Hellen Obiri and Eilish Mccolgan. Hellen proved to be the strongest woman this time and won the final battle. Charlotte Purdue crossed the finish line third.
- Hellen Obiri 01:07:41.775
- Eilish Mccolgan 01:07:47.712
- Charlotte Purdue 01:08:49.720
During the event, 344,750 used the LiveTracking feature. With the LiveTracking function, spectators are able to follow friends, family and their favourite athletes live during the event. After the race, all results, split times and finish times are available to view in the app.
Congratulations to all athletes and participants. We are excited to see the beginning of a fully packed race calendar following with Great Bristol Run, Great Manchester Run, and Great South Run amongst many others.
EventApp and TRACX
Whether you’re organising or timing a big or small event, you can offer your participants and fans a great event experience by creating your own EventApp or using the TRACX app. Do you want to know more about these options? Please contact us via team@tracx.events, info@mylaps.com or visit one of our websites www.tracx.events & test.mylaps.info.