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This week we learned that Apple has become an official partner of this year’s London Marathon, which takes place next month.
Of course, the Apple Watch has helped many runners prepare for marathons and other long-distance races, but one of them is wondering if the sponsorship signals plans to move further…
Apple and London Marathon partnership
Apple isn’t the main sponsor of the event, but IT consulting firm TCS, which has the rather ungainly title of “Official Performance Technology Product Partner” for this year’s event.
The company’s head of fitness said Apple’s technology helps runners in three ways.
“Apple technology supports runners of all levels with powerful tools and insights that help them stay motivated, track their progress, and better understand their health and fitness,” said Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of fitness technology.
Further strengthening support for runners?
CNETGisele Castro Sloboda of Yahoo!, Inc. wonders if the deal signals the company plans to step up its support for people who participate in organized runs. She looks at existing tools and says she expects more.
Heart rate tracking using AirPods Pro 3 or Apple Fitness Plus workouts, a tool now available to help runners track their runs and collect advanced metrics via Apple Watch (…)
Perhaps future updates could look like race-specific tools that incorporate competitor insights (…) As an Apple Watch owner and recreational runner, I would love to see training plans personalized for different race distances based on data.
She also considers the role of AI.
Another useful feature is that Apple Watch can use AI to detect whether you’re running at an appropriate speed for a prescribed workout or if you could use an extra rest day, based on the data it collects.
Would you like to see Apple offer this kind of feature? Let us know in the comments.
Photo by Miguel A Amutio on Unsplash
