Laurel by Brooksee Elevates the 2025 Mesa Marathon with Advanced Timing Accuracy and AI-Powered Intelligence

February 25, 2025

167 timing checkpoints were deployed, providing real-time athlete positioning and tracking updates every 0.15 miles, safety alerts for law enforcement, and personalized race insights for over 10,200 participants

MESA, Ariz. (February 25, 2025) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE– New race timing and athlete tracking technologies were launched at this year’s Mesa Marathon with Laurel, Brooksee’s industry-leading timing technology. Brooksee deployed 167 timing checkpoints across the course, delivering capabilities for near real-time athlete positioning through Laurel’s patent-pending, active, disposable chip technology. The event also featured the launch of Brooksee’s Laurel Intelligence™ technology, which translates timing data into dynamic, AI-generated race recaps, delivering a personalized, sharable experience for every participant.

The 2025 Mesa Marathon featured the highest timing checkpoint frequency in industry history, providing capabilities for near-real-time athlete positioning every 0.15 miles. This was a new benchmark for Laurel, which set the previous industry record of 0.18 miles at the Las Vegas Marathon and Every Woman’s Marathon in 2024. At the finish line, Laurel by Brooksee delivered a 99.95% read rate, outperforming a leading legacy timing system used at the event, which recorded a lower 99.82% read rate. Missed reads were promptly verified and corrected using a backup.

The 2025 Mesa Marathon saw record-breaking numbers of participants and spectators, becoming the largest in its 14-year history. With over 10,000 registered participants from all 50 states and 30 countries and over 25,000 spectators, it marked a new milestone for the event, showcasing its growing national and global appeal.

“The incredible surge in tracking and viewership at Mesa far exceeded our expectations, clearly demonstrating the demand for the participant and spectator engagement features that Laurel provides,” said Phil Dumontet, CEO of Brooksee. “Increasing our server capacity to ensure real-time updates to match this unprecedented demand is our top priority. This level of engagement was beyond anything we’ve seen in past races, which strongly affirms our vision. As fans continue to engage more deeply, we’re resetting our goals and preparing for even greater growth – upgrading our infrastructure to support the scale of the biggest events ahead.”

Despite the high timing checkpoint density, the entire Laurel system was deployed in two hours by a four-person team. Each timing checkpoint is about the size of a smartphone. Compared to traditional timing mats, teams reported quicker installation, easier integration and higher reliability.

“When I started timing more than 10 years ago, we were giving ourselves two hours to deploy just 4 or 5 checkpoints,” said Austin Pullan, timing operations manager at Brooksee. “Our ability to deploy 167 checkpoints today in the same amount of time is incredible.”

Laurel was developed to elevate the experience for participants, spectators and race organizers alike at endurance sports events. For runners, race day moments live on long after the finish line with dynamic, data-driven reports and shareable recaps. For event directors and law enforcement, real-time visibility on athlete positioning enables faster response times, improved safety protocols and a more controlled race environment. For spectators, this means better real-time tracking of friends and family, eliminating guesswork and ensuring they know exactly where their runner is on the course.

“Brooksee’s Laurel Technology was vital to safety at the Mesa Marathon, providing real-time tracking of the final participants’ locations for effective monitoring and swift response,” said Ryan Stokes, traffic lieutenant at Mesa Police. “Overall, this level of visibility was crucial in ensuring a secure and well-managed event.”

This year, Laurel’s technology will power over 200 races across the U.S., including Ragnar Relay, Every Woman’s Marathon, Seattle Marathon, Las Vegas Marathon, Portland Marathon and Phoenix Marathon.

For an in-depth look at Laurel’s performance at the 2025 Mesa Marathon and to explore the power of AI-driven Laurel Intelligence™, check out Rory Linkletter’s Race Recap.

ABOUT MESA MARATHON

The Mesa Marathon is the premier race in Arizona offering a marathon (26.2 miles), half marathon (13.1 miles), 10K and Amazon Kids 1K. Runners receive the race experience and perks of a major marathon as well as the personalized service and local flavor of their favorite hometown race. Race day is all about the runner, from industry-leading shirts and medals to unmatched course support and the best finish experience to be found. The Mesa Marathon is owned and produced by Brooksee.