BK: I know you’re not an AI apologist, but can you help me understand how you use AI to train? 

 

BQ: I had wearable technology to measure glucose, monitor my rest and recovery, all the things. Well, I had lots of data, but what’s it mean? I used ChatGPT to interpret my numbers so if my training plan called for 21 kilometres, it could say, ‘You’ve had horrible eating and no sleep. I think you should dial back that 21K so as not to set back your training.’ It’s personalized data-based training as if from an all-knowing coach.  

 

BK: It’s definitely cool, especially as we age and need all the help we can get to stay training. 

 

BQ: First time I decided to run a marathon I was an active 54-year-old man, but didn’t exactly know how I should be training. The AI data gave me pace information based on 750,000 runners in my demographic and told me a pace I could crush based on my information. It can be overwhelming, but it’s also a powerful tool. 

 

BK: What else are you brainiacs working on? 

 

BQ: I love talking about biodegradable water spheres designed to help eliminate all the paper cups at races. 

 

BK: I heard about this. That’s the Jetsons-sounding version of on-course water where instead of actually drinking water, we eat something that turns into water and leaves no trash on the course? 

 

BQ: They’re spheres, and it’s technology that’s real, almost like jelly in a way. It’s chewable, biodegradable pods filled with water that you pop in your mouth and burst, almost like a water balloon, with no waste. 

 

BK: The waste from the paper cups at races, gel wrappers too, it’s disgusting. 

 

BQ: It would be cool if the membrane that held the water could also hold nutrition and carbohydrates. You have to remember that marathons require a lot of water; we’ve been working with the TCS Sydney Marathon on reducing that. 

 

BK: We’ve innovated so much with shoes, since inventing the carbon-plate. It feels like we should be doing the same thing with water. 

 

BQ: We are! There are real world prototypes and they were rolled them out in limited capacity at the TCS London Marathon last year.   

 

BK: What’s trending now? What will the races of tomorrow bring? 

 

BQ: Big races, Sydney in particular, are very sustainably focused.  

 

BK: You were also telling me about innovations in pavement, like basically turning the roads into something offering energy return? 

 

BQ: Piezoelectric energy is the buzz. It’s energy harvesting and it’s being worked on to deliver at scale, but basically the pressure from the foot strike causes the materials in the ground to come together and when the molecules crash into each other it creates electricity—electricity that goes back into the city grid. 

 

BK: Marathon runners powering electricity in city blocks! 

 

BQ: At small scale, you initiate it with timing mats. That’s a good first step. But fast forward into the future and have cities put this down on sidewalks, capturing energy all day long, and you reduce your carbon footprint and have a net positive energy return. 

 

BK: TCS is looking at how we can bring these technologies to races, but I know the goal is to scale your technologies outside the sport. 

 

BQ: It’s hard to scale early on in technology, but as the costs go down and technology improves, yeah—that’s the goal. We work in running, but we also work in the real world. 

 

BK: I know I’m not the only one saying how great it is that TCS has taken an interest in our sport. 

 

BQ: Marathons are a good showcase for our technology. Marathons create a mini-city ecosystem that happens for one day. We learn and figure out what works and it becomes a showcase for what can be used to benefit the broader public. 

 

BK: This is how the sport should be showing up. Not trashing the streets that we run on, but powering the cities where we race.  

 

BQ: We’re using marathons to enable technology and bring people together. Really, our only goal is to improve health and wellness across all of society—have all boats rise with the tide.