There's no excuse for EVERY track not to have it. Within a few years, any track without Wavelight should be considered archaic, like a dirt track. Discuss.
There's no excuse for EVERY track not to have it. Within a few years, any track without Wavelight should be considered archaic, like a dirt track. Discuss.
Nope. There is no need for it. Certainly not at every track. Are we just wasting money because we can? This is not fiscally responsible at all.
Wave light costs 20k??!! I promise you I could make my own with the help of Home Depot and a programmer friend for less than $500
ienjoyracing wrote:
Wave light costs 20k??!! I promise you I could make my own with the help of Home Depot and a programmer friend for less than $500
I'll pay you $200 if you can produce a working prototype.
I'll pay you $100 if you can produce a schematic and a parts/price list.
Home Depot, get moving, Son
There has got to be somthing better to spend 20k on, wave lights are unnecessary.
The 400m of lights and Wires alone should cost more than 500.
20k does seem steep for some lights and a loop of fixed time intervals.
ienjoyracing wrote:
Wave light costs 20k??!! I promise you I could make my own with the help of Home Depot and a programmer friend for less than $500
For real. THIS ^
Honestly, why isn't there already a business out there where you just buy one of these light things, and then put it wherever you want it? Move it from track to track. Put it in a parking lot. Who cares? It is 400 meters of lights. As long as the last light connects to the first one, you know you have one total loop correct for timing.
I make apps for a living. Creating a super simple UI that would let you plug in the total distance and desired finish time would be crazy easy. Hell, you could make it "fancy" and tweak the lights to have negative or positive splits. 800 runners like positive splits. Milers like negative splits. Make the lights change colors for the last lap. There are tons of possibilities, here.
malmo will pay you!
I don't know about every track, but I agree, it should be a standard part of major event tracks from now on. Eventually I would like to see every event that uses human pacers run with wavelight instead. If human pacers weren't standard, then I might object, but this is one technology which is fair to everybody in the race. Plus, it adds a fun component for the spectator, rather than seeing a pacer 200 yards ahead of the field only to drop out after a couple of laps, you can see the accuracy (or absurdity) of the requested pace.
WRONG. wavelights should not be allowed in competition. it's absurd. i can see how they might be useful for training, but only if you're trying to squeeze that last 0.1% out, i.e., you're a pro. IMO there should not be a big market for these things.
I mean, it's technically been illegal until very recently (and even now I think requires a special exemption?) so that would be why...
they shouldn't be allowed, but if they are here to stay, they should be in as many places as possible.
fethullah gulen rupp wrote:
WRONG. wavelights should not be allowed in competition. it's absurd. i can see how they might be useful for training, but only if you're trying to squeeze that last 0.1% out, i.e., you're a pro. IMO there should not be a big market for these things.
Why would they be useful for training? Interval shouldn't be an all out effort.
SDSU Aztec wrote:
fethullah gulen rupp wrote:
WRONG. wavelights should not be allowed in competition. it's absurd. i can see how they might be useful for training, but only if you're trying to squeeze that last 0.1% out, i.e., you're a pro. IMO there should not be a big market for these things.
Why would they be useful for training? Interval shouldn't be an all out effort.
They're "pacing" lights, not "all out effort" lights. Set the pace for whatever you want.
Training - you could set the lights to any pace. Doesn't have to be record pace. Great training tool if it was affordable.
The lights could also be set at competitions where athletes were trying to get a specific qualifying time. Lot's of options.
I remember joining a health club back around 1976 that had a small indoor track with pacing lights.
semi_pro wrote:
SDSU Aztec wrote:
Why would they be useful for training? Interval shouldn't be an all out effort.
They're "pacing" lights, not "all out effort" lights. Set the pace for whatever you want.
FGR referred to squeezing out that last 0.1%. Whether or not a workout is perfectly paced, is meaningless.
tradition wrote:
20k does seem steep for some lights and a loop of fixed time intervals.
20k seems about right. Most small niche businesses need 80-90% gross margins to be worthwhile. That would mean the cost of manufacturing+shipping is in the 2k-4k range. Which doesn't seem terribly unreasonable, especially if you realize that 2k-4k has to include the assemblers profit for short order runs.
ienjoyracing wrote:
Wave light costs 20k??!! I promise you I could make my own with the help of Home Depot and a programmer friend for less than $500
I'm an engineer turning entrepreneur, I've had the same thought, that it seems way overpriced.
But everything costs what the market will bear? Maybe the company making them only has capacity to make a small number, so they set the price high to keep demand matching production capability?
Also, is the cost inclusive of an in person installation and training? Or do they just mail you a box with instructions? Maybe the 20k includes them flying out and installing it? Maybe it includes a warranty?
Also, I assume it is environmentally sealed? Able to be trampled/spiked and survive? Those are features your $500 version doesn't have and adds cost.
D.Katz wrote:
Training - you could set the lights to any pace. Doesn't have to be record pace. Great training tool if it was affordable.
The lights could also be set at competitions where athletes were trying to get a specific qualifying time. Lot's of options.
I remember joining a health club back around 1976 that had a small indoor track with pacing lights.
You can do that with a treadmill as well?