The Clermont Clay 15K Partners with Outside Interactive to Bring an Exact Treadmill Simulation of its Famous Course to Runners Across the Globe

October 21, 2020

Set for November 1st the Race Represents the First Course Simulation Created with User Generated Content

Hopkinton, MA – October 21, 2020 – Today it was announced that the Clermont Clay 15K has partnered with Outside Interactive to create and offer an exact treadmill simulation of its 9.3-mile course to runners and walkers around the globe. On November 1^st, remote participants will be able to take part officially, enjoying the sights and sounds of the world-famous Clermont Clay Trail in a simulated experience. In a first, this simulation was developed by race officials to Outside Interactive’s exacting specifications, enabling runners to experience the 15K course during this year’s race, while race day filming of their course, again by these same race officials, will be created for future years.

“This partnership represents a major breakthrough for us,” stated Gary McNamee, Outside Interactive’s president and founder. “The era of Covid has seen interest in our technology increase dramatically. With all the race cancellations, we quickly realized we needed a means of handling the scale and volume that this situation would require for simulated course offerings.  Enter user generated content.”

“When the idea of a course simulation was discussed, I immediately thought of Outside Interactive,” stated Jarrod Shoemaker, World Champion Triathlete and 2008 Olympian. “I’ve done so much of my own training on the clay trail and enjoyed this event so much, the thought of sharing the experience, letting runners see and feel the course with other runners anywhere in the world was a no brainer.”

“When Jarrod brought up the idea of Outside Interactive and its treadmill simulation app for our event, it was exactly what we were looking for,” stated Kimberly Grogan, Race Director of the Clermont Clay Trail 15K. “With all the virtual races out there, this was a fantastic way for us to differentiate our event, bringing our famous clay trail to runners anywhere in the world. We wanted people to experience a piece of Central Florida right on their treadmill, even if they are deployed or wish to preview the course simulation prior to running the live event in the future.”

To date, Outside Interactive’s teams have worked directly with Race Directors on location and on race day, creating a production of their course, capturing all the electricity and excitement of the event. This raw footage would then be uploaded to Outside Interactive’s video parsing content editor. The resulting output is tablet based “smart video,” which can communicate with Bluetooth® enabled treadmills of cardio equipment partners. This patented “bi-directional” or two-way communication adjusts course video speed to the runner’s exact pace on their iPad® or Android® tablet based on treadmill commands, while also enabling automatic incline control on the treadmill sent from the Outside Interactive app, resulting in an immersive and interactive simulation, where users see and feel a course, hills and all. To address a need, over the past months, Outside Interactive has pivoted to automate its internal content editing tools, allowing for the uploading of user generated raw footage, creating downloadable content to Outside Interactive’s specifications.

“The addition of quality user generated content has proven quite a challenge, but we realized this would be the only way we could partner with the thousands of races around the globe, bringing their race to the runner. We will continue to modify and perfect our course editing process to accommodate much of the content we anticipate seeing. We currently need to require some rigid specifications, using rentable prosumer grade cameras.  We hope to introduce this content into the both residential and commercial markets, distinguishing  a simulated race from virtual. In discussions with several Race Directors, they have been receptive bringing their race to markets where live events or virtual cannot go.”

About the Clermont Clay 15K

The Clermont Clay 15K takes place in November each year on the world-famous clay loop in Central Florida. All proceeds to benefit South Lake Multisport Events (SLME), a nonprofit created to raise awareness and money for running trails in South Lake County. One of the projects being worked on with these funds, is the Lake Louisa Trail Project funded by SLME and coordinated by FloDash Events, LLC. For more information, visit Clermont Clay 15K

About Outside Interactive

Outside Interactive is a Hopkinton, MA developer of Virtual Runner, a revolutionary patented forward motion technology solution featuring famous race courses, popular running routes and scenic destinations, all shot in high definition from a runner’s point of view. Founded by Gary McNamee, a lifelong Boston resident, avid runner and serial entrepreneur, Gary developed Virtual Runner after becoming bored on the treadmill and frustrated with not being able to train properly in New England’s unpredictable and often harsh weather. For more information, visit Outside Interactive