The London Marathon Will Go Ahead Thanks to Social Distancing Wearables
Running a marathon during a pandemic sounds insane when you first hear it. Thousands of people huffing and puffing together, sweating, breathing heavily in close proximity for hours – basically everything public health officials tell you NOT to do right now. But the London Marathon organizers are determined to make it happen this year, and theyre using social distancing wearables to pull it off. Its a fascinating experiment in how technology might enable events we thought were impossible during COVID.
The elite race will feature a limited field of top athletes wearing devices that alert them when they get too close to other runners. If the wearable detects another device within the social distancing threshold, it vibrates or beeps as a warning. Essentially turning runners into virus-avoiding robots who get haptic feedback about their proximity to potential infection sources. Its weird and dystopian but also kind of brilliant as a stopgap solution.
How This Technology Actually Works
The devices use a combination of Bluetooth and ultra-wideband radio to detect proximity with reasonable accuracy – more precise than your phones Bluetooth which can be thrown off by walls and bodies and atmospheric conditions. When two devices come within about two meters of each other, both wearers get an alert. The idea is that even during intense competition, even when runners are focused entirely on performance and placing, theyll be reminded to maintain safe distances.
Its not perfect obviously. Marathon packs can be tight especially early in races when everyone is bunched up trying to find their pace. Drafting behind other runners is a legitimate tactic for energy conservation – you use less effort running behind someone who breaks the wind for you. The technology creates some awkward incentives where optimal racing strategy conflicts with health guidelines. But its better than cancelling entirely and letting the virus claim another victim in the form of a beloved sporting tradition.
The Bigger Picture For Events Generally
What interests me about this beyond the marathon itself is the template it could provide for other events wrestling with COVID restrictions. Concerts, conferences, sporting events with crowds – anywhere people gather could potentially use similar technology to enable safer gatherings during pandemic conditions or future outbreaks.
Whether people actually WANT to wear social distancing monitors is another question entirely. The surveillance implications are real and worth thinking about. Devices that track your proximity to others could be used for all sorts of purposes beyond public health. Who has access to that data? How long is it stored? Could it be subpoenaed? These questions matter.
But as a short-term solution during a global health emergency, its creative problem-solving of the kind we desperately need more of. The London Marathon happening at all this year is a genuine achievement against the backdrop of so many cancelled events, so much lost normalcy, so many traditions we just assumed would continue forever until suddenly they couldnt.
Wearable tech made it possible when nothing else could. Athletes get to compete. Sponsors get their exposure. The tradition continues even in modified form. Thats worth something even if purists complain its not the same as a normal race with massive crowds lining the streets cheering runners on.
Whether we want proximity monitoring to become permanent is a separate and frankly concerning conversation we should probably have before the temporary becomes default. Emergency measures have a way of sticking around long after emergencies end. Powers granted never get returned willingly. Technology deployed for one purpose gets repurposed for others. These patterns repeat throughout history and theres no reason to think this time is different. Something to think about anyway while we celebrate the marathon actually happening.
