The JSE-listed AST Group was again the official IT partner for the 2005 Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, held on 26 March 2005 in Cape Town.
The Web-based system handling online entries developed by AST for the 2001 race has proved to be very successful, making it a great deal easier for runners to submit their entries. The accuracy of the information received by the race organisers has improved dramatically since the implementation of the system, significantly reducing in the administration overhead usually associated with such an event.
For the 2005 race the system was re-designed using the latest Microsoft .NET technology, and this change resulted in an even greater increase in efficiency.
This year 69% of the eventual 15 620 entries entered online, the highest proportion yet for online entries. In comparison, 63% of runners in 2004 entered online and in 2003 the proportion was 58%.
Race director Chet Sainsbury said: "AST`s contribution to the administration of the race has made a huge difference. Runners are happy about being able to enter online, the information we received is accurate and up-to-date, and our staff and volunteers on race day have been impressed with the service levels achieved by the AST staff."
AST`s involvement over the past five years has led to significant technological improvements in the race`s administration, including online security, downloading results onto the Web immediately, co-ordination of the end results and providing a system infrastructure which interfaces with an outside broadcast unit in order to produce the leader boards and captions for the live SABC TV broadcast.
"Being the IT partner for the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon has brought with it significant challenges. We are satisfied that we have provided the race organisers with the best service that we were able to, thanks to the commitment of our staff and our suppliers," says Gillian Misplon, Project Manager at AST Cape.
"ChampionChip" technology was once again used for time-keeping during the race. Runners were provided with a transponder chip that they tied to the laces of one of their running shoes. When they ran over any of the 4 ChampionChip mats (three on the route and one at the finish line), the runner`s time was recorded and transmitted directly to the AST database via a LAN. These times, correct to the millisecond, were instantly available to the public on the Web site. People could surf the Web and find out who was leading the race at any of the ChampionChip mat locations or enquire as to the status of a friend or family member merely by searching on their name or race number.
Details of the winners were provided to the media as soon as they had crossed the finish line. Full results were made available shortly after the race was complete and were also available live on the Old Mutual Two Oceans marathon Web site, www.twooceansmarathon.org.za. AST also provided a results centre for the printing of race certificates for runners on race day.
As official IT partner for this event, AST is proud to show its commitment in the sporting arena to both its clients and all South Africans.
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