OpenTrack News: A Big Night of the 10,000m PBs
A brief look at the best (in our very unbiased opinion) event in the UK athletics calendar
After the blockbuster that was Saturday’s Night of the 10,000m PBs, we thought we’d celebrate both the performances that made the event special, and the OpenTrack magic that brought everything together.
Keith books her ticket to Paris
Having secured the Olympic standard of 30:40 back in March, all that remained was for Megan Keith to finish in the top two Brits on the night, and that she did, the Inverness Harrier leading Jess Warner-Judd, and Lincoln Wellington teammates Abbie Donnelly and Sophie Wallis across the line as four Brits came in under 32 minutes.
With two Wavelights set at 30:40 and 31:30, our newly-developed (and still work in-progress) pace graphic shows how the 30 starters fared throughout.
Two horse race sees Ismael take the win
Setting out at an Olympic standard pace (27:00) that only 78 men have ever beaten was always going to be a tough ask for the men’s field, and so it proved, with only Mohamed Ismael and Patrick Dever able to keep to that pace beyond halfway.
Swapping the lead briefly after the 5000 metre mark, the Djiboutian edged back in front of the Preston Harrier with five laps remaining, and held top spot to the line for a PB.
Live splits keep everyone informed
With split times generated every 200 metres, courtesy of timing providers Seiko, and integrated using our regular photofinish integration, following the action as it happened was easier than ever - both for fans in the stadium glancing at their phones, and for fans everywhere else on the edges of their sofas….
With splits updating in real time, and displays to show athlete positions and times both live and as a replay after the event, we’ve developed a spectator experience that puts everything you need in the palm of your hand.
Broadcasting to the world
Of course, for any event of the magnitude of the Night of the 10Ks, there are far more people tuning in from around the world than there are trackside — and there were a lot of people trackside!
With the event now part of the On Track Nights series, the broadcaster made use of our standard JSON data to build custom livestream graphics, matching the event’s green and black theme.
If you have something you’d like to build using the data from your events, feel free to get in touch!
Hitting new highs
We’re delighted to have played a small part in the success of the Night of 10Ks over the years, and even more pleased to have seen it grow year after year.
This year’s event was no exception, with more than 25% increases in pageviews, users, and average viewing time, when compared with 2023.
Sharing success with social cards
You’ve seen them already in this article, but our social cards remain versatile and convenient, enabling anyone to download and share results across social media.
With images available in a variety of formats, and athletes able to add race day pictures to their individual results for a personal touch, our social media-ready graphics are instantly available for organisers, athletes, and fans alike.
If you’re interested in any of these features for your own meeting, we’d love to talk to you about how we can make them work for you.
As always, if you have any feedback, requests, or want help bringing your athletics into the 21st century, feel free to get in touch at info@opentrack.run.