GPS is Winning the Race

By Greg Bartlett / Guest Columnist

Both winter and summer bring opportunities for competitive sports, not only indoors but also outdoors. Some of the most popular sports are races, including marathons, boat races, and dog sled races. For races that cover long distances and involve significant time investments, spectators have traditionally had to rely on checkpoint observations to determine where each participant was at any given point in the race. Not anymore. More and more races have begun to track contestants with GPS tracking systems, enabling spectators to know where each participant is at any time during the race.

This winter, the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race will incorporate GPS tracking for all of the participating mushers. The tracking devices will send signals at intervals to a receiving device, allowing for continuous real time updates of the carriers’ location throughout the duration of the race. Carrying the devices is voluntary for each participant. Each transmitter is about the size of a deck of cards and can be placed on the sled or on the musher himself. GPS tracking is especially helpful for a race like the Yukon Quest which covers one thousand miles and lasts for two weeks. The location information allows spectators, friends, and family members to go online and view the precise location of each musher as well as their proximity to one another.

Boat races have also begun to use GPS tracking successfully to track race participants. The Pure Michigan Bayview Mackinac Race allowed fans to view boat positions from the race website, enabling fans who could not attend in person and those from across the country and around the world to get in on the action. By simply clicking on the GPS tracking update link, viewers could see the course of the race and icons indicating the location of each boat.

As GPS tracking systems become more precise and more widespread, there will undoubtedly be more instances in which it can be used successfully to monitor sports events. The flexibility of the technology allows it to be adapted to a wide variety of uses, from racing events, to the Super Bowl, to collegiate track and field competitions. Fans can expect to see more instances of GPS tracking use in future sports venues, including this year’s Winter Olympics. Keep an eye out for which of your favorite competitive events will be monitored by GPS tracking in the future, enabling you to watch vicariously from the comfort of your home.

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