Read Time: 2 Mins — TL;DR: With massively deployed checkpoints as often as every tenth of a mile, Laurel Intelligence can confidently report any segment of the race experience at any level of detail, presented as Laurel Splits.

Introduction

Up until now, timers have had the important job of capturing a start and finish time, along with a few splits in between. Those splits have traditionally been placed at strategic locations on the course, up to every 5K and maybe some specific cheater splits. We're redefining how timers present data, shifting from just reporting splits to telling the whole story of the race.

We can accomplish this with massively deployed physical checkpoints as often as every tenth of a mile and data analysis powered by Laurel Intelligence.

The Limitation of Traditional Checkpoints

Even the level of detail provided by the most robust traditional timing service (5K splits in a marathon), still leaves gaps of 20-50 minutes for participants. It also fails to show what happens in between. Was a slowdown at the 20K split due to the hill at mile 11, or did the runner struggle beyond the hill? Without additional tracking, it's impossible to know. There is a level of insight that athletes and spectators want that traditional timing hasn't provided—until now.

A New Approach: Laurel Splits

At Brooksee, our Laurel Timing System replaces traditional timing mats with soda can sized checkpoints on the course as often as every tenth of mile, resulting in hundreds of checkpoints for a marathon or century ride. We’ve shrunk the information gap from 20-50 minutes down to just 1-3 minutes. But this led to a different challenge—too much raw data to easily interpret.

Using Laurel Intelligence, and checkpoints every few hundred feet, we can confidently report any segment of the race experience, even if we don't have a checkpoint at that exact location (although we most likely do, see the table below for typical checkpoint deployment). We call this Laurel Splits.

Laurel Splits range from detailed to broad:

• Detailed Laurel Splits: Provide mile-by-mile or kilometer-by-kilometer performance metrics, similar to fitness tracking apps.
• Broader Laurel Splits: Offer insights at every 5K, 5 miles, 10K, and more.
• Overview Laurel Splits: Compare the first half to the second half, allowing athletes to quickly assess their pacing and negative splits.

More Than Just Live Tracking

We initially set out to incorporate hundreds of checkpoints to enhance "live tracking." For years, timers have estimated participant positions between known checkpoints to provide "live" updates and projected finish times. If we were going to confidently show a position on a map, we wanted more precision and accuracy without requiring athletes to use an app.

With our extensive data, we can confidently report any position on the course. For live tracking and finish predictions, Laurel Race Intelligence goes even further by integrating, among the hundreds of checkpoints:

• Elevation data
• Historical race data
• Past performances by the same participant

The result? Smarter, more accurate tracking that adapts to the individual athlete.

Why It Matters

• Athletes gain richer insights into their pacing, effort, and strategy.
• Spectators, coaches, and race analysts receive real-time, high-resolution race data.
• Events become more engaging and data-driven, enhancing the participant experience.

Conclusion: The Future of Race Timing

Race timing is no longer just about net time with a few splits—it’s about telling the participant’s story. Laurel Intelligence transforms raw race data into meaningful insights using Laurel Splits. The future of race timing is dynamic, personalized, and data-rich.

This is the future of race timing.