On Sunday 5th March 2023, the annual Cambridge half marathon took place, attracting over 15,000 people to the event.
The Cambridge Half Marathon is one of the most popular sporting events in the United Kingdom, attracting thousands of runners from around the country and beyond. This annual event, which takes place in the historic city of Cambridge, offers participants a challenging yet scenic 13.1 mile course that winds its way through some of the city's most iconic landmarks and picturesque neighborhoods.
With its festive atmosphere, enthusiastic crowds, and a reputation for being one of the most well-organised races in the country, the Cambridge Half Marathon has become a must-do event for both serious athletes and casual runners alike.
Cutting edge drone services
This year, the Cambridge Half Marathon has partnered with Skytech Cambridge, a local drone services company, to provide innovative and essential services for the event. With their state-of-the-art equipment and experienced team of pilots and camera operators, Skytech Cambridge has been able to capture stunning aerial footage of the race as well as providing the race organisers with a unique perspective of the course and its surroundings for security and crowd monitoring purposes.
The use of drones has revolutionised the way in which race organisers can monitor and manage large-scale events. With Skytech Cambridge's advanced technology, they are able to capture high-resolution images and video footage of the course, allowing organisers to monitor the movement of runners and crowds, and detect any potential security or safety issues in real-time.
Live streaming for event security and management
One of the most critical services that Skytech Cambridge offers is live streaming of drone footage. This live feed is transmitted directly to the race organisers, who use it to make informed decisions about the event's management, security, and overall organisation. This has proven particularly helpful during times when crowds are larger than anticipated, or when unexpected incidents occur, as it enables the race organisers to take immediate action.
The use of drones and other advanced technologies has become increasingly popular in large-scale events such as the Cambridge Half Marathon. With Skytech Cambridge at the forefront of this trend, we can expect to see even more exciting and innovative ways to use drone technology to enhance event management and security.
Technical challenges
Live streaming at large-scale events can present significant technical challenges, particularly in areas where network connectivity is limited.
At the Cambridge Half Marathon, the use of 4G/5G for live streaming was not possible due to the high contention of the network. As a result, Skytech Cambridge had to find alternative solutions to ensure that the live stream was successful. The team used a high-bandwidth local wifi connection provided by Gearset instead, which allowed them to transmit high-quality footage of the event in real-time. This was a hard wired connection from one of the local colleges fed over a very long network cable to a switch port on-site at the event.
Another challenge of using local wifi for live streaming is ensuring that the signal is strong enough to transmit high-quality footage. Skytech Cambridge addressed this challenge by using advanced video compression techniques, which allowed them to stream high-quality footage without putting too much strain on the network.
Successes and Future collaboration
After the Cambridge Half Marathon event, the race organisers were full of praise for Skytech Cambridge's exceptional services. In a statement, the organisers noted that the team from Skytech Cambridge were:
"...easy to work with, knowledgeable, and able to find solutions for all of the problems encountered throughout the event...Their ability to work collaboratively with the organisers and find workarounds for any issues that arose during the event demonstrated their expertise and professionalism..."
Skytech Cambridge's team was able to provide the organisers with the support they needed to ensure that the event ran smoothly and safely.
Given their success at the Cambridge Half Marathon, it is no surprise that Skytech Cambridge has quickly become a go-to provider for drone services at large-scale events throughout the UK. Their reputation for quality and reliability has earned them numerous recommendations and glowing reviews from clients.
