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Thank you, New York. Today we're reminded of the power of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on your mark.
The first woman to finish for the second straight year here in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman. A smiling Miki Gorman, and why not? At 2:29: 30, the time for Grete Waitz.
Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes to the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the USA, he so proudly wears across his chest. A great day for Meb Keflezighi.
Hello, everybody and welcome to Set the Pace, presented by Peloton. We are the official podcast of New York Road Runners. I'm your host and the CEO of New York Road Runners, Rob Simmelkjaer, and with me as always, but not as always, in the same room, Becs Gentry. Hello, nice to see you in person.
Hello, this is weird. I'm normally staring at you through a screen.
I know. This is so bananas to see you. You look great.
Thank you.
I'm glad to see you're doing well. And why are we in the same room? Because we are here this morning doing a special live episode of Set the Pace. We're at the New York Road Runners Run Center, featuring the New Balance Run Hub, for this special live show. And we've had a busy month of September.
So busy.
Do you know that we've actually done five episodes already, and we're doing seven in the month of September, so we're-
That makes sense.
We're working hard this month.
Yeah, we have done a lot and they will be fantastic.
Yes, it's a busy time. Obviously we had this special show for the Fifth Avenue Mile last week. That was incredible. So much more going on. And today is a really special show because we are talking about innovation and we're going to team up, we are teaming up with Fast Company, an amazing publication, magazine, digital publication. Anybody in business, I'm sure you read Fast Company out there. And
this is part of their 2024 Innovation Festival. And in our live audience here, we've got a group of attendees who are in town for the event and we're thrilled to have you here. How about a round of applause from you guys out there?
Yeah.
Thanks so much for being here. It's great to have a live audience. And since the theme of all this is innovation, we have a great guest coming up. A special partner of New York Road Runners, Haley Price, who is the Head of Sports in North America for Tata Consultancy Services that puts the TCS in the TCS New
York City Marathon. Haley's going to join us in just a little bit to talk about all the amazing things we do when it comes to technology and the TCS New York City Marathon. So that's all coming up in just a minute. But before we get to Haley, Becs, I've got to get an update on your training, how it's
all going for you. You continue, for those who don't know, Becs is doing this unbelievable thing called the Great World Race.
There we go.
I want to call it the Amazing Race, the old reality show. It really is that. Seven marathons on seven continents in
(inaudible) .
seven days, that she is doing in November. I constantly marvel that this is a thing humans can even do. But how is your training going? 200 miles a week? What are you doing? How's it going?
Not quite, not quite. We're on about, I close out I think my fourth or fifth, 115 mile week. This one is going to be more like 125. This week was tough. It's already been tough, but it's fine because I had a lull in energy, which I think you can sympathize with.
Yes.
Real lull in energy. I'm going to put that down to the change in season, hormones, all sorts of things all at once that I was like, this sucks. It's dark, it's getting dark early, it's getting light late. All of the things that make you have seasonal mood swings. Add on to that, my coach being like, " Get out and run for three hours." I'm like every day, every day is a long run you guys, but I'm weirdly
liking it. I'm through the slump, I'm here and I should have run here because that would've been way better for my sanity, but it's going. It's less than eight weeks. I mean, seven weeks today, I'll be off on my way to Cape Town to start it all. But before that, someone else is running their first marathon in a very, very, very long time.
We're trying.
Couple of weeks, less than two weeks out-
We're trying.
... from this guy running Berlin Marathon, everybody.
Less than two weeks from the BMW Berlin Marathon.
Oh my gosh.
I'm excited.
(inaudible) . You're what, 20 miles this last weekend?
I just had to run something that started with a two. As you know I had been training, I did an 18 and a half mile run, and then the very next day I got so sick and I was knocked out.
It wasn't his buddy saying no.
I don't know what was going on, a virus. I was knocked out for a week. I was in bed, I missed work, I was just out. And so coming back from that, I started to feel better, but I just had to get one 20- mile run in. It's like, yeah.
We know what that feels like, right, guys? When you have to get your number in and tick that box to be like, I can do this.
It's as mental as it is physical.
It is.
I just had to do it. So I did it all by myself, running around Westport, Connecticut and got it done. So at least now I feel like, all right, I can show up at the starting line feeling I can actually cover 26.2 miles.
Absolutely.
In Berlin.
Those last six suck anyway, so why put yourself through it more than once?
Exactly, exactly.
Says she, running it seven times. Is anyone in here else running Berlin? Sensible.
Or New York, or anything else?
New York, have we got anybody in the-
Any body running a marathon this fall?
Yay, yay.
All right, we got a couple New York runners
And any other races, marathons this fall? Oh, good. Okay, oh, we can convince you then.
You know what else we've got coming up this Sunday, is the New Balance Bronx 10- miler, which I'm super excited. Anybody running Bronx this weekend? All right, we got a few more running that. That's going to be my last longish run before Berlin.
I know.
I'm going to not go too crazy, but it is. People ask me what my favorite race is at New York Road Runners, and of course I put the marathon aside because that's its own thing. But when I put that aside, I actually do think the New Balance Bronx 10- miler-
Really?
... may be my favorite race because it's an amazing course.
Hey, Matt, sign me up.
There is so much energy.
Yeah, there is.
The music on the course, it's a little hilly, I'm not going to lie, but it's newer.
It is.
And the after parties at all the bars and the places near Yankee Stadium, you're finishing right in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.
Oh, so it is very hilly.
It's hilly.
Shakespeare Hill, right?
I don't even know what these hills are called. I just know they're hilly. But I feel amazing.
Now we have our amazing Peloton instructor, Rad Lopez, and he's a Bronx native. He is born and bred in the Bronx. He's doing Shakeout Run, I think he's also running it. Don't quote me on that, but.
I don't know, but I know we always get a great turnout of Peloton people and all kinds of people coming to the Bronx. So I'm excited about that.
It's going to be great.
Good luck to everybody running. And by the way, before we move on, I just want to thank everyone, by the way, who has donated to my Team for Kids page as I prepare to run in Berlin. I've gotten over $ 3, 000 in donations already, with still two weeks to go.
Congratulations.
So thank you all so much for donating. If you want to support the run, you can go to my Instagram page. It's in the bio. RT Simmel is my handle, and I would love to have your support. Obviously, it's all raising money for all of our youth and community programs at New York Road Runners. So, thank you everybody who's supporting Team for Kids.
There we go.
Supporting me as I try to run this 26.2 in Berlin. Thank you so much. And by the way, speaking of training, for those of you who are listening to the podcast at home this week, after we wrap up the live show, you'll hear from our man, Meb Keflezighi, with his weekly training tip as we approach the six- week out mark from the TCS New York City Marathon. So, be sure to stay tuned-
Six weeks.
... for this week's Meb Minutes.
Only six weeks. I think I saw on Ted's Instagram something about 50 days and I couldn't believe that.
Yeah.
So it's less than (inaudible) .
We have the number, like the days, hours and minutes to the marathon on our intra- company website at New York Road Runners, ticking and ticking and ticking.
Wow.
And sometimes I open it up and I'm like, oh my God, that is scaring me. It feels like it's getting so close and it is getting close.
It really is.
But our team is ready to have another great day.
Can't wait.
In New York, we're doing our work. So hopefully you're out there doing your work, getting ready for the big day on November 3rd.
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All right, Becs, back to today's agenda. This week's episode and today's Fast Company panel is all about the intersection of running and technology. For those new to our organization, New York Road Runners is a New York City based nonprofit, which organizes 60 adult and youth races every year, including of
course, the TCS New York City Marathon. Along with our partners like TCS and Peloton, we're committed to bringing world- class experiences that are also inclusive and accessible to all
of our participants, our spectators, and our fans. And so during our conversation today with Haley, we'll talk more about the role that investments in technology, as well as partnerships with pioneering companies like TCS, play in enhancing and growing our impact. Technology has been a big focus of mine since I've been here as CEO of New York Road
Runners. TCS is an incredible partner in making that happen, and so I am excited to welcome to today's show, her first appearance on Set the Pace, Haley Price, the Head of Sports in North America for Tata Consultancy services. Hello, Haley.
Hi, Haley.
Hello. Thank you so much Rob and Becs, for having me on Set the Pace. I'm excited to be here.
Welcome.
Thank you.
It's great to have you here. Thank you for all the support of TCS to make everything we do at New York Road Runners, and of course the marathon, possible. And for those who don't know, you oversee sports sponsorships in the US and Canada, of course, including the TCS New York City Marathon, but there's more. There's the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. There's technology sponsorships of the Boston and Chicago
Marathons. And, you guys have a sponsorship with a really cool racing league, the Jaguar TCS Racing Team, which is in the all- electric Formula E racing series, which is really cool, by the way.
So cool.
We're pretty busy.
Yeah, you guys have a lot of cool things going on. I had a chance to check out one of those Formula E cars out of your conference, they're incredible. TCS is huge, more than 600, 000 employees.
Wow.
And just this global footprint. You guys are also now sponsoring the brand new Sydney Marathon, the TCS Sydney Marathon, which just took place this last weekend. So you are busy. We'll talk about all of that, but Haley, I just want to start on a personal note. I've known you now for a year and change, coming up on two years since I've been here, but I'm always curious, what
drew you into this job, into this industry? For those that don't know, she used to work at New York Road Runners and then went to the other side of the fence and now works with one of our most important partners. But how did you get into this whole space?
Well, first of all, I think I'm just so lucky to be here today and so lucky to be working in sports. And is true, I used to work at New York Road Runners way back, almost 20 years ago. I'm really dating myself now. 2005 was when I started New York Road Runners and I was so excited to work for the world's largest marathon. I really fell in love with large events and seeing it all come to life.
And so when I had the opportunity to work for New York Road Runners, I jumped on it and I learned a lot, on 89th Street in that old brownstone. I especially loved working my first marathon. In 2005, I had the very special privilege of holding the finish line tapes in my backpack. And so I was super pumped to be at the finish line watching the pros come in and I'd give them, to give the tape holders the
finish shape to hold and I'm so engrossed. I was like, oh, is Hendrick going to pull it off? Is Paul Tergat going to come in? Is Meb? Meb's coming? He's in third. And I was so engrossed in watching the broadcast within Tavern, that I realized that I gave them the wrong finish line tape. And so my 23- year- old self had never sprinted so fast trying to beat Paul back
to the finish to swap out the tape. And spoiler alert, I got it.
Yay.
I swapped the tape just in time with literally moments to spare. My heart was in my throat and I was like, I have my dream job and I'm about to get fired right now? This is the worst day of my life. But I learned a few key things about sponsorship, right? Media value. It's really important that on the New York Times, the right tape shows up in that photo in the New York Times the next day.
I learned about sponsorship contracts and how to keep cool and calm under pressure. But really, I mean, it was just an amazing formative experience to be working at Road Runners back then, and I'm sure it absolutely is today. Working under the leadership of Mary Wittenberg and setting the stage or maybe setting the pace for-
There you go.
... where this word is today. I mean, unbelievable. And I would be remiss if I didn't shout out to Michelle Doti Taylor who worked at Road Runners and apparently still liked me enough after the great tape incident of 2005, to hire me again at TCS to manage our partnerships starting in 2015.
Wow, what a story. I love that. And I'm sure you've carried so much of the love of running from New York Road Runners through to everything that you do at TCS. And it comes across in your personal life, because you are a runner yourself. And how do you put your personal love and passion for running into your day- to- day career?
Oh, well, I do love running and I started running in college, mostly because my dorm was really far from the gym, so it was really out of a basic necessity. And I fell in love with running along the Charles River. It was a great way to unwind, decompress, work through some problems, and do really my best thinking. And it didn't really occur to me to start running marathons until
I joined New York Road Runners. And then it became kind of normal, or maybe it was abnormal if you weren't training for a marathon, but I loved the inclusive environment. It really welcomed everyone of all abilities to get out there and at least try. We used to do a lot of running meetings and hit Central Park with your boss.
You'd get a lot of answers that way. And then I ran Chicago and I ran Boston, and then after I left the New York Road Runners, I ran the New York City Marathon in 2009, and it was my PR. I was on set to run a 3: 45, I ran a blistering pace and I knew at the halfway point I was like, this is my fastest half- marathon ever, this is
a real problem. And I was like, came off the Queensboro Bridge and my IT band was just gone and I hobbled the last 10 miles and I seriously, seriously considered walking across Central Park to my apartment on the Upper West Side and just call it. And I was like, there's another race in there for me. But I finish and I got a 3: 50, and now I'm retired from marathons.
Okay.
Yeah, I feel like it's not the season of my life for that, but I love running so much. I love getting out there in the Connecticut beaches and running wherever I can, because I think running shouldn't be work. It should just work for you.
Love that.
And she may have retired from marathons but far from retired from half- marathons. Remember I ran a half- marathon in Fairfield, Connecticut back in June, and I'm hanging out at the finish line and turn around and who do I see? Hailey Price just hanging out at the finish line. So we ran that one together, didn't even know it, but she is an active half marathoner.
Brilliant.
Doing a great job out there. And Hailey, when I am around people from TCS, I am amazed at how big running is in the entire company. I mean, you've got runners all the way at the top of the company. Your Chairman, Chandra a big runner. I saw him in Paris, he was running the marathon Pour Tous over there. You've got people up and down the organization who
are actively running. And not only that, but I've been at your conferences where you integrate running into your business messaging. You talk about running as a metaphor for business. And we talk about running as a metaphor for life on this podcast all the time, and all of the things that you learn by running that you really use for things
other than running. What does running mean for TCS and how as an organization do you all integrate it into everything that you do?
At TCS, running, we believe that running has the power to change lives. We truly believe that it permeates our culture, as you saw firsthand. And I love how we got into running in the beginning. So our Chairman of Tata Group, then CEO of TCS, Chandra, who you said who you met in Paris, he started running later in life and he ran the marathon also in 2009. Apparently we were
in the same race, didn't even know it. And he just fell in love with the sport and saw what it did for his own life. It transformed him and he saw our company and our employees specifically, and saw everyone working eight hours a day at their desk, coding, developing, doing all their hard work at computers and was like, we need to get our employees active and running
as well. So he created the OG fitness tracker, Fit for Life, and it was just for internal gamification system to get folks physically active, out healthy and running. And since then, hundreds of thousands of our employees have used Fit for Life to track their fitness efforts and just
get out there running. And then he was like, well, okay, I brought it to my employees, now I got to bring it to our communities and our clients and where we live and operate. And we started sponsoring races and it was really, truly as authentic as I say it is. We just did it for the love of running. And now here we are in 2024, in our 11th year of our title sponsorship of the TCS New York City Marathon, and we are in
it for the long run. We are not going anywhere and we truly love this partnership so much.
I love that story of just how important it was from the inside out for TCS, and I'm sure everybody can see it. I mean, it's a big passion. So when it comes to the partners that you work with, what do you look for in a New York Road Runners, in Jaguar Formula E, or whatever it is?
Yeah, when we look at to sponsor new properties, we want to make sure that our values are truly aligned. Right? And so I think for us, we want to use sport to drive positive change, to inspire others, to showcase purpose-
led technology, and to really build relationships within our communities. And I know, I'm sure all the Set the Pace listeners know how powerful running is in their own lives, but I would like to take a minute to talk about our sponsorship with Jaguar TCS Racing Team, because I think that's such an interesting example of how we are helping to drive innovation and sustainability in sport, but also how it's
reflected in the real world. So we've been a sponsor of Jaguar TCS Racing Team for a number of years now. And for those who don't know, in Formula E, the cars themselves, the livery, and mostly the hardware is exactly the same for each of the teams. Now, the main variables to win races are the software, technology, and the drivers. Right? So the races are won and lost based
on the software and technology. And so TCS is really happy to be part of the tech that helped the Jaguar TCS Racing Team become the world champions this year. And I think it's a great example of how we are showcasing how we're driving difference in sustainability efforts around the world.
That's pretty interesting.
It's so cool.
So the coders can make a big difference on the track.
Yeah.
That's really-
Well, when you see the rooms, well, not the rooms, the trailers, when it goes to all of these races and how many computers and screens there are. It kind of makes sense, if you've ever looked at it, but now I'm really upset that we lost it in New York and it went to Portland. Darn.
Yeah, so cool.
Well, there's an opportunity, come down to Miami in April. April 12th, the E- Prix will be back then and season starts.
I'll be there.
And I think December 7th, in Sao Paulo.
Okay.
Very cool, very cool. All right, back to running now.
Two passions.
I mentioned earlier, we just saw the Sydney Marathon, which is now the TCS Sydney Marathon that you guys just signed on as title sponsor of, just happened this past weekend. I was actually amazed at how many people I knew were there in Sydney. My Instagram feed all weekend was Sydney, Sydney, Sydney. So
Same, same.
many people went down there.
Yeah, people who were at the new Balance Fifth Ave mile the Sunday before. I was like, how did you get to Australia?
It's amazing. And you can see first of all, that folks know that it is in line to quite possibly become the next race in the Abbott World Marathon Major series, that still has to be determined, but there's a chance, good chance, I think that that will happen and be announced later this year. So people are getting ahead of
that. But for TCS, what was the decision making to add another marathon to your group, and one in that part of the world as well?
Well, at TCS, we want to be synonymous with running and we want to sponsor the most iconic races in the world. And as I mentioned earlier, we really look for value alignment. So TCS Sydney Marathon just made a lot of natural sense. And my feed was blowing up as well. I can't believe how many folks were there and it was amazing to see. It was a record setting
day, 40,000, over 40,000 finishers across that finish line. And what I love about that race specifically is that they are also aligned toward a sustainable future and employing a lot of sustainable business practices to make sure it's one of the greenest races in the world. They also, we work with the Indigenous Marathoners Foundation to bring opportunities to indigenous peoples to
run the marathon as well. So I think it's again, a great way to show how we're giving back to the communities through the power of sport.
I honestly think it's going to become one of the biggest because of just the vista that you saw, the finish line, the Sydney Opera house. I mean, it's never going to be the TCS New York City Marathon, but it could come a close second. It's pretty cool. So, congratulations on that as well to the team.
Thank you.
So, I mean, should we talk tech? Should we get a little bit-
Yeah.
Should we get details on this?
Yeah, yeah. I think that's what we're going to do
and obviously that's what TCS is all about. And I mean, anybody who's followed the marathon, the TCS New York City Marathon over the years, if they've had a friend running or family member or whatever, chances are you downloaded the TCS New York City Marathon app, which is one of the many things that has made the New York City Marathon known as the world's most technologically advanced marathon, which we
are very proud of. And so obviously there's the app, Haley, but there's a lot more that goes into making this race a very tech forward race and TCS is behind a lot of it.
Well, and I know how important technology is to you, Rob. So I think one thing I want to preface is that when we look at technology, it's really, tech for good. How are we making a positive change in our races using technology? And there's two really good examples that I'd like to talk about. One is the app. We like to also solve problems, right? So the app since its inception, I
think has had 3. 5 million people download it. And it solves a really specific problem on a race day. It's one of its most popular features, is tracking. How do you find your runner along 26.2 miles? It is really hard. It was really hard before the app existed, but since the app, you're able to now be on First Ave and be able to cut through the crowds just in time to see your runner because if you're
tracking your runner every step of the way. One of my favorite new features over the past few years is the live- streaming. So you can actually stream all four pro races. Men's, women's, and both wheelchair races, every step of the way. And so what it does is it creates access. So anyone with a smartphone and Wi- Fi around the world can track their heroes every step of
the way. I especially love the story of Sharon Lokedi in her marathon debut and when she won, there was a story about her mom, Rose, and how she was able to watch her from home in Kenya. She wasn't able to do that, she wouldn't have been able to do that without the app. So it was just a really powerful moment and they were so immensely grateful to have that app available to them.
That was a huge story for last year's race as well. I remember when her mom was there at the finish line, I think, wasn't she last year? It was beautiful. So, it really does. I'm technological grandma in my world, I'm not very good with tech. Anyone who knows me knows that. I just about get Instagram, but I love using your app. I don't find it too advanced for
someone like me. I'm sure you could deep dive into it, but I know one of the incredible things, and I've been very lucky to talk to you and your team offline about, a new project that you're working on. And they've partnered up with Boston Marathon champ, Des Linden, who we all know and love, to create the first- ever, digital twin of a pro runner's heart. I'm just going to let that set off for a minute. Like,
wow. My jaw was on the floor, literally, when the team were telling me about this new plan, this new program, this new technology that enables this to happen.
I mean, Becs, you can actually see it?
Could actually see it, yeah.
They actually create an image of the heart and you can look at it and see it functioning. It's kind of freaky.
Yeah, and it's not invasive. It may sound like it might be invasive to Des, but it's not. It's MRI, if she so chooses. And then a lot of information gathering from different workouts. And the team with Haley put all of this information together and it's going to be able to give the world so much more insight into how we as humans perform, not just at the high level. When we're resting, when
we're coming off race. It's just going to open so many doors for incredibleness. So how, I mean, obviously it's going to help us, let's say, I don't want to say prioritize performance levels, but it's going to help with performance levels. But how is it also going to just help health overall, for everyone?
Yeah, and first of all, we are so proud to partner with Des as a TCS ambassador and so excited to also watch her race this November as well. So as you mentioned in the lead up to last year's marathon, we worked with Des to create a digital twin of our heart. And it wasn't just to help her train smarter and safer, which is of utmost importance, absolutely. But also to give her insights so that she can live a longer,
healthier life. And now we are launching the Future Athlete Project this fall, and expanding on that body of work to include 10 different marathoners from around the world of all diverse abilities, and Des is back in the project as well, and creating digital twins of their hearts. And the goals of that program and expansion are to provide personalized heart
insights so that they learn more about their heart. We can actually see, so as you mentioned, you can see the digital twin of a heart. And for those who may not know, a digital twin is a virtual replica of a real life object or process. So what's so great about digital twin technology is that you can run endless simulations in the virtual world to better understand what
will happen in the physical world. So one example I like to use is like, hey, Des is going to have a digital twin of her heart. What is her maximum safe heart rate that she can have when she's running the hardest hill on the TCS New York City Marathon course? Which according to Coach Roberto, I think it's
mile 23, it is a pretty hard hill. So I think we can see what that maximum heart rate is that will be safe for her, without having her ever lace up her shoes.
That is unreal. So it's, you can put it through a simulation without it being her actual heart and give her parameters to which she can follow, and all the other incredible athletes. As you can see, blowing my uneducated technological brain over here.
I need you guys to put my heart through something like that.
Yeah, same.
And just help me figure out exactly how much coffee I should have before a race. What exactly I should do, because I would love to know how my heart responds. Forget about running, just like other stuff. You know?
Well, I mean, and that's truly the future of why we're doing this. I think, Becs, to your original question is like, why are we doing this? We're doing this as a showcase, not just for sport and to get folks to run faster. Again, a good byproduct, but really as a showcase of where healthcare can go. And the ultimate goal is to create
a digital twin of a human. And we think that we're all going to have a digital twin of ourselves in our pocket that's going to have all our health information from birth to death. And then all the information, even from where you live and the air quality, your
nutrition intake, how well you slept. It's all going to inform your digital twin and then be able to make not just real time coaching updates for your run the next morning, but real time preventative healthcare updates as well.
You know Becs, as we at Road Runners try to get more technologically advanced. Of course, we do everything we can do as a little nonprofit in New York City, but having partners like TCS with the app, or Peloton, by the way, with what you guys are doing, that's really what's
helping us move the ball forward. And for those who haven't had a chance to experience it yet, and by the way, I haven't experienced it yet, but I am dying to get on a Peloton treadmill to see this experience that's been created by your colleagues of really running the marathon through Peloton.
Absolutely. We were so, so lucky to partner with New York Road Runners last year. And we have a New York Road Runners collection on Peloton, it's a series of scenic classes shot on the course last year. It was kind of before the race actually started. I don't remember because I was really nervous for doing my job that
day. But basically it offers the chance for our Peloton members and users to experience the magic of the TCS New York City Marathon course without having to go out and run it themselves, because we all understand a marathon isn't
for everybody. It is a huge undertaking. And they are 30- minute classes that can be taken back to back, so you get the whole course, or if you just want to do one a month, your own time, you can digest it. If you have a favorite part of the course from having run it, you can do that over
and over again. And it kind of, we try our very best with technology to mimic the fluctuations of the inclines of the bridges, obviously not the downhills too much.
That's what I think is cool. You hit a hill and that treadmill is going to adjust to that (inaudible) .
Exactly, and it gives you, it's a hilly course, it is demanding. So we try and give you the experience as closest possible at this point in technology's to experience the course. And hopefully, maybe it might inspire some people to apply for another race.
Haley, do you think you want to maybe give them-
I'm going to come out of retirement.
Yeah, come out of retirement.
Yeah, on the tread. You can try it on the treat first.
Give the TCS New York City Marathon another shot on a treadmill.
Why not?
72 and a half hours on the tread.
Oh yeah, no big deal.
There we go.
Worst case scenario, you're at home. So you know what? You step off the treadmill and you go have a drink in your kitchen. Right? So it couldn't be so bad.
Absolutely.
All right, I'm in.
Yay.
All right, let's make this happen.
We will.
Haley, we are constantly talking about where to go next with technology and running. You talked about the app. We have lots of big plans for that app going forward, which I won't talk about today. But lots of things we want to do with you all on the app and other things to give our runners more and more tools to be their best, and have the best experience
they can have as a runner. What do you all at TCSC as kind of the technologies going forward that will most impact the sport of running?
Oh, well, let me pull out ChatGPT. No, I'm just kidding. To answer this question, I think one I would bucket in a few different areas. I think I talked a lot about AI and data and how AI will be able to analyze the vast amounts of personal health data to really give you the most optimal running and training experience. I mean, we're already seeing AI play into
coaching apps like Runna, right? And, but I think we're going to see a lot more of that hyper- personalized coaching plans and whatnot to help make sure you're running your best races. I think another bucket that I would put
out there is recovery technologies. And it's already come so far with just at- home massage devices, and different kind of compression gear, and even the carbon plating in the shoes to make sure that you're recovering faster because the faster you're recovering, the faster you're out there improving your fitness as well. And then the last one is just around wearables, smart fabrics, implantables. So we talked a lot about
the data. Well, how do you get the data to begin with? You have all... Everything you're going to wear is going to have sensors in it, right? So maybe your shirt will be self- cooling. You get too hot, it's going to cool you down and it's going to automatically adjust. Your running shoes are going to tell you that you're about to be injured, right? I still look at the bottom of my shoes, I'm like, oh, the tread's
gone, I'm about to be injured. Well, your shoes are going to be able to tell your smart watch that, or your smart device that and then you'll know. But what I find actually most fascinating is how technology is really revolutionizing sustainability, in terms of gear and we're seeing a lot more shifts in kind of consumer spending and whatnot. Repurposing, upcycling, extending the lifespan of shoes
and gear and whatnot. Because the longer you're able to wear these shoes, the less they're in landfills or being recycled and whatnot. And I saw a really fascinating exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. It was called Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks, and it had 60 different futuristic designs for all kinds of running shoes, sneakers,
athletic gear and more. And I love the one where you could grow your own shoe using a mushroom substrate and a cast of your foot, and it was wild. It was totally wild, but I was like, this is the future. We're going to be not building shoes, we're going to be growing them at home. And then you'll be able to compost them later on.
Love that. I'm down for that.
You're going to grow your own shoes?
Yeah, I'll do it.
I think I'd like to try that.
(inaudible) .
I don't know if I trust myself. I don't have a green thumb. I feel like if I grow my own shoe, it's going to go horribly wrong and my sole's going to come right off at the mile five mark, and then I'm going to be running barefoot, which is not... Some people do that, but I don't really want to do that.
No, I don't want to do that either. I think we're a good five to 10 years away from all of that at this point, but it's nice to think about what the future could look like.
Absolutely. Wow. Thank you so much, Haley. Wow.
I love it. It's really cool. And listen, anybody out there who has run the TCS New York City Marathon, who has followed somebody else on it on our app, or who aspires to run it, you have TCS to thank because they are a huge part of what makes that event possible and what makes it so special, especially when it comes to the technology point of view. So Haley, on behalf of all of our runners, our staff, thank
you so much for everything you guys do. Thanks for being with us today. It's great to have you here and to be a part of this Fast Company 2024 Innovation Festival with us. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Now to the final part of our show, the Meb Minutes.
Week 10, strength is key. During my training, I've found that strength training is a game changer. Incorporating core exercises and leg workout helped me avoid injuries and improve my running form. Embrace strength training. It is not just for sprinters, but essential for marathon too. Body weight training is very important. Core drills, bonding are crucial. You want the body
to be efficient and as straight line as possible. So when you're fatigued, you're not bending over or be able to just not be as efficient. So, core exercise is important. I used to do it every single day, five days a week, six days, week, except on my long run. So stick to a routine where you can work on your strength because it will help you be more efficient.
Becs, it's been so much fun to see some live faces here in the run center to talk tech and get ready for a big couple of weeks in running.
Oh yeah, here we go. Here you go
Here we all go, here we all go. I want to thank everybody out there for listening. I want to wish everybody luck. If you're running the Bronx this weekend, have a great time. I will be there. I'll see you at the starting line or the finish line, can't wait for that. And as always, if you liked this episode, please go ahead, subscribe,
rate, leave us a tech idea. If there's something you'd like to see from the tech point of view, maybe a feature you'd like to see on the TCS New York City Marathon app. Put it in the comments, I'll send it to Haley and say, " Let's do this right now. We need this." I wouldn't do that, or maybe I would. Maybe I would.
That's okay. I'm in, send me it. Send me the notes all the time. We want to hear it.
We love the thoughts, we love the ideas out there, so make sure you do that, rate it. And thanks again as always for listening to the show. As we say every week, enjoy the miles. We'll see you next week.