Nov 24, 2014

New York City moves at a fast pace to begin with, but there is perhaps no day that is as quick or as busy as that of the TCS New York City Marathon. This year’s race took place on November 2, and it was a day when runners from all over the world converged on the Big Apple to run through all five of the city’s boroughs. According to Newsday, this year’s marathon happened in unseasonably cold weather, and the wind that whipped the runners’ faces presented a hindrance to achieving optimal speeds. Still, the roughly 50,000 runners powered through the less-than-ideal conditions.

Running a marathon represents an extremely challenging feat, one that requires both a broad focus and a singularity of purpose. But those same two qualities are also required behind the scenes of the race, when it comes to monitoring everything that is happening to ensure the safety of runners and spectators. Fortunately, Firetide was yet again there to fill that role, providing wireless mesh solutions for the day of the run.

Ensuring a safe day at the races
When it came to protecting the safety of tens of thousands of people on a fast-moving day, we here at Firetide were more than up to the challenge. That is because our wireless mesh products are specially tailored to handling situations that require both vast scope and specificity. As Corry Hong, founder, president and CEO of UNICOM Global, pointed out, wireless technology enabled the kind of surveillance for the run that would not have been possible otherwise.

“Firetide’s highly-redundant wireless mesh solutions delivered the bandwidth necessary to enable high-definition video and constant communications for law-enforcement and Race operations throughout the streets of New York City, ensuring a safe experience for all,” he said.

While events like marathons are exciting and community-boosting activities, they are also events where the risk potential elevates due to the sheer number of people in the vicinity of the racetrack. That is why it is particularly important to take extra steps for events like marathons in order to ensure public safety.