There are websites you can upload your GPS running info and compare yourself to other runners but as far as I know, none where you can watch the results like you'd watch a real race. People who ran a particular course that week would upload their results and on Monday at 6:00 pm for instance, you could watch all those runners who ran that course throughout the week all shown running at once as if they were running at the same time.

The graphic would show all the little avatars at the starting line, yours being one of them, you'd pick which speed you'd like to watch the race played at, from "real time" to 10 times or so actual speed, then push "GO".

Then sit back and watch a virtual race to see how you did.
-- doctorremulac3, Nov 10 2013

If you have the particular brand of addiction that finds marathons fun or important then I doubt the virtual will provide your fix.

I do like the idea of marathon as racing game. Racing games are all centered on virtual motorized vehicles - ice sleds or motobikes or Mariokarts or what-have-you. Zipping around, caroming off obstacles, firing laser balls. Much better would be the marathon - jostling for position within the throng, the occasional subtle thrown elbow, the hyponatremia and incontinence. It would take race games to a whole new level.
-- bungston, Nov 11 2013


Well for those like me who run, it's fun to track your progress and see how you compare to other runners. This is a bit more exciting than just comparing times though. You wouldn't know if you beat "Bob from Menlo Park" until you watched the race complete with both avatars closing in on the finish line and one person winning. You could get little competitions going without ever actually meeting the person. Unless of course you wanted to.

Getting people together to do an actual marathon isn't something that's going to happen every week at every popular running trail or path in the area. With this, every week you'd be able to join in a marthon at your favorite jogging trail that you run at a time that's convenient to you. In fact, you could configure what time frame the participants are included from. It could be that day, that weekend, week, month whatever.

Could work for bikes too.
-- doctorremulac3, Nov 11 2013


It occurred to me you could also select what kind of people you wanted to race against. Age group, gender, even stuff like body mass index, beginner, intermediate, advanced etc.

The race could occur any day of the week and encompass any time frame and any competitors you wanted.

It's the only marathon you could win every time. Start by running against 60 year olds who are just starting out. Although where I live you get these freaky old people who've been running every day since the 1960s who are in amazing shape so no guarantee of a win there, which could be frustrating. Anyway, start by competing against one group, then as you get better, start racing against a tougher crowd.

The fact that these races aren't happening in real time is what really appeals to me. Every day there's a marathon at any place you want with the competition you've selected. Having run my share of real marathons and not being a big fan of big sweaty crowds, I really like this idea. Unbunned as it may be.
-- doctorremulac3, Nov 13 2013



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