A Marathon Event in New York

‘ING New York City Marathon’
Despite unseasonably warm temperatures and high humidity, a record 34,703 runners completed this year's ING New York City Marathon. They were cheered on by more than 2 million spectators who lined the streets of the City's five boroughs, as the runners made their way from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Staten Island to ‘Tavern on the Green’ in Manhattan's Central Park.

Thanks to a team of more than 50 Total RF personnel, including RF engineers, camera operators, motorcycle riders, grips, and other technicians, millions more people were able to enjoy the spectacle of this year's event. The show, which is produced by TWI (Trans World International) in conjunction with the New York City Road Runners Club, is aired live on WNBC (Channel 4) in New York and is distributed to over 35 broadcasters around the world.
The modern marathon derives its name from an ancient Greek town, today known as Marathónas. It was here in 490 B.C. that 10,000 Athenian soldiers, led by their general, Miltiades, won a famous military victory against the Persians. Tradition holds that, in order to reassure the besieged Athenians, Miltiades dispatched a messenger, the soldier Philippidès, with a simple message, "nike"(victory). It is told that Philippidès ran the 40 kilometers to Athens with such haste that he died of exhaustion upon arrival. It is to celebrate this heroic journey that the concept of the modern marathon was devised.

Providing live television coverage of a 26-mile marathon through the streets of New York City is an impressive achievement in its own right. In addition to conventional triax cameras, terrestrial coverage of this year’s NYC Marathon consisted of five 'Motos' (three motorcycles with wireless cameras and two Dodge trucks with gyro-stabilized cameras), whilst in the air, two helicopters provided aerial coverage of the event. The trucks and both helicopters were equipped with FLIR 'Ultramedia' gimbals.

 The ING New York City Marathon is actually five separate races each with different start times. As the professional women's race starts 35 minutes before the men’s race 'Moto 1' (the lead truck). 'Moto 2' (a motorcycle with on-board analyst), and 'Helo 1' are used to cover the women’s event. Likewise, 'Moto 3', Moto 4, and 'Helo 2'are used to cover the leading men. 'Moto 5', known as the 'Pack Cam' is used as a roving camera to cover the rest of the field, including runners of special interest.
During the race, live images from each 'moto' are transmitted to three rooftop receive sites using 2GHz digital COFDM transmitters with QPSK modulation, whilst the two helicopters use analog links at 6.4GHz. The receive sites are strategically located on the roof of the Bay Ridge Apartments in Brooklyn plus the roofs of the Citicorp and GM buildings in Midtown Manhattan. The Citicorp building was also the hub for all incoming feeds.

Total RF engineers used a variety of RF antennas, at each rooftop location, to receive the digital signals from each ‘moto’. These ranged from fan beam antennas to GPS auto-tracking systems with 4' dishes. Depending on the location of a particular ‘target’, operational conditions and range engineers selected the antenna feed that offered the optimum signal, at each stage of the race.

GPS data, providing the exact location of each ‘moto’ and helicopter, was sent via data links to computers at each of the ground receive sites. This information was used to control the auto-tracking antenna systems and to provide engineers, as well as the TWI production team, with information regarding the progress of the race. With simultaneous coverage of the leaders in both the men and women’s races, knowing exactly where each ‘moto’ and helicopter was is vitally important.
The logistics of covering a live event like the ING New York City Marathon are enormous. It takes months of meticulous attention to detail to ensure that the right facilities are in the right place at the right time. Good communications are also essential with an event of this kind and engineers in RF-5 and at each of the receive sites use a variety of channels to communicate with the ‘motos’, helicopters, TWI production personnel and each other.

The use of digital COFDM transmitters has revolutionized the live coverage of marathons and similar events. Using digital links, it is now possible to receive images direct from the five 'motos' without using expensive mid-point relay helicopters, essential when using analogue links. This year analogue links were used for both helicopters but in 2004 Total RF plan to go 'all digital' with the use of digital downlinks from both helicopters.

Total RF, who have now been covering the New York City Marathon for ten years, are one of the few companies around the world have the equipment, trained personnel, specialized equipment, and expertise required to cover this kind of event. The success of this year’s event is a tribute to the team of Total RF engineers who go that extra mile to make it all possible.

New York City - November 2003

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