Iphone app provides route information, tracking function
Users are also able to upload photos
For the first time, this year’s Sun Run will offer iPhone users an app with route maps, information about package pickup, schedules, transit information, a mobile tracking mechanism so friends and family can see where a runner is on the course and an uploading capacity for sharing photos and stories.
“As the world evolves with mobile devices being so important in our lives as an information source, it makes sense that we now get into that,” said Jamie Pitblado, vice- president of promotion and community investment at The Vancouver Sun and Province.
Pitblado said Sun Run organizers are definitely not encouraging participants to check the app while running. Instead, it can be used by others to track their friends’ progress on the course and as a resource tool while preparing and after leaving the race.
The app will be available only on iPhones this year, although Pitblado said there are plans to develop a more comprehensive app for the 30th- anniversary run next year.
The Sun Run app can be downloaded free through iTunes.
Sun Run staff will be tracking download information this year to see how popular the app is and what information on it was most valuable. “It will help us shape what we want to do going forward,” Pitblado said.
He also stressed that photos and shared stories will be put through an editing filter. “This is a family event so we want to make sure people are posting appropriate information.”
QuickMobile, a Vancouver company that is developing into a worldwide leader in
As the world evolves with mobile devices being so important in our lives as an information source, it makes sense that we now get into that.
JAMIE PITBLADO VICE- PRESIDENT OF PROMOTION AND COMMUNITY INVESTMENT, VANCOUVER SUN AND PROVINCE
event apps, developed this one for the Sun Run.
Patrick Payne, QuickMobile CEO, said the Sun Run app was a relatively simple one compared with others his company has developed. He is hoping to further refine it for next year.
Payne said this new technology is revolutionizing the way organizers plan events and communicate with participants. It reduces or eliminates paper communication and allows organizers to send out alerts on any last- minute changes.
“They can update the information and everyone has dynamic information at their fingertips,” he said.
The company has grown exponentially from about 15 people in 2010 to 145 today; it pioneered event app technology in 2008, and it has since taken off. Payne expects the workforce to grow to close to 200 by the end of the year. QuickMobile services small companies as well as large ones like Microsoft, Disney and McDonald’s.