Nike is gearing up for The Human Race 10k on August 31st, where 1 million+ runners will don their iPods to race in 25+ locations around the world at the same time. The race is designed to highlight the Nike+ product line, which tracks and communicates your pace while you run, and allows you to upload it to compare your results to others. Strangers linked together through iPods yet running side by side...certainly an epitome of the information age!
Maybe it's just me, but isn't the theme of this race a tad too oxymoronic? Enter a race, tune into your own playlist while you run, then go back home and upload the results to compare how you ran to all those people you didn't talk to during the run. Isn't this missing the point of having a group event in the first place? Is it easier to upload and compare than just meeting people at the race? For a blog- and social network-dependent world, perhaps this is the most intimate the digerati can be.
I'm bummed that there isn't a Human Race nearby, for I would like to witness it. If anything just to see thousands of runners screaming "ON YOUR LEFT!" to no avail. The blissfully deaf iPod runners are a nightmare in most road races...imagine everyone having one going at full blast! There is definitely going to be some carnage.
I love my iPod (and Nike+), but just can't get my head around this event. Am I crazy?
- SD
