Drones at Races

This article about using drone-bots for photography at road races piqued my interest (as well as that of Melissa who sent me the article.)

Could these be used at MUT races with open trails (parts of Leadville, Lake Sonoma, and Hardrock come to mind) to get real time footage of the race? In the right hands, these could be a huge benefit to our community. Check out this video for an example of what views we could soon have and imagine the awesome perspective of the runners and the scenery from a new angle.

If they have real time capabilities–and I’m not sure if they do–we could actually watch parts of races we’d never get to see otherwise.

But…

Would they bother the runners? What if, instead of being used by a runner-friendly photographer, they were being used by a photographer hired by a corporate sponsor to get footage? Who has the rights to the air 50 feet above the trail?

I’ve watched these launch, and they are LOUD. Imagine 4 to 6 weed trimmers going on full speed at once. For those who prefer the sound of nature, these copters would drown it out immediately.

Would the benefits outweigh the cost? The obvious answer is that for those running the race, the quadcopters would be a lot more apparent than those sitting at home enjoying the real benefits of the footage, right?

Will these be an issue in the future as their costs come down and they’re more readily available? When will JB Benna or Matt Trappe get one? For guys like that, soon, I hope.

Thoughts?

15 Responses to "Drones at Races"

David says:

August 26, 2013 at 11:50 am

I don’t think there is a right answer. I hate the thought of having one of those interrupting my happy thoughts at mile 40, but, aerial video footage of me running in a race? Cool!

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Chris says:

August 26, 2013 at 12:41 pm

There was a guy at Zane Grey this year getting some aerial footage. I think it was a lot smaller scale than the drone in the pic above, but still cool none the less. It was a bit eerie at the dark start to see this thing flying above you with flashing lights.

Found the video:

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1. eric schranz says:
  
  August 26, 2013 at 12:53 pm
  
  Wow! Very cool Chris! Thanks for sharing that video. Can’t wait to see more of that type of footage.
  
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Peter Andersson says:

August 26, 2013 at 12:58 pm

The impact on wildlife would be too much as long as they’re LOUD methinks…

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Nic says:

August 26, 2013 at 1:10 pm

Here’s a brief clip of footage from one during the Mourne Way Ultra in Northern Ireland
http://youtu.be/dtKiZJPrZ8o

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Jack says:

August 26, 2013 at 1:15 pm

Anymore noise/impact than the armies of crew tearing up and down forest roads? Use a hot air balloon, its quiet and more pleasant look at 😉

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Mitch says:

August 26, 2013 at 1:23 pm

I think live video would be annoying because you need a much larger copter. But for a GoPro the copters are much smaller and quieter. I think that would be pretty cool to watch.

Of course, with a larger more powerful copter/camera you could have it up high and use a telephoto lens to zoom in.

I predict as the cost goes down you will start to see more and more of these. My guess is some photographer will start to use this and sell the aerial photos of the race to runners just like now they sell standard photos.

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TK42ONE says:

August 26, 2013 at 2:51 pm

I’ve thought for years it would be great, but I wouldn’t use a loud one, especially on trail races. When I ran a half last year, they had a small helicopter with a photographer inside snapping photos. Was really cool to see but was a little loud. I’d say a small one with a GoPro would be great. As long as they don’t crash like this one did – http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/drone-crashes-into-virginia-bull-run-crowd/2013/08/26/424e0b9e-0e00-11e3-85b6-d27422650fd5_story.html

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eric schranz says:

August 26, 2013 at 2:58 pm

My wife and I were on the beach in San Diego last year and we noticed some guys with a big case fidgeting with something…wires…cameras…remote controls. It all caught my interest so we went over and watched.

They’d just bought/built the copter for about $4k (IIRC) and were using it to take aerial photography for real estate listings of houses on the beach.

We hung out for awhile until they finally fired it up, had the SLR attached, and launched it.

It went up, shook around for a few seconds, then came crashing to the ground, busting into pieces on the sand. We stood there with our mouths agape laughing, like we’d just witnessed a girl say no to a proposing suitor. Crazy.

The guys picked up the pieces with sad looks on their faces, put them back in the box, and left the beach. My wife and I busted up.

Yeah, it was funny in a strange way, but that thing could have fallen out of the sky and hit me, my wife, the lady by us, a car on the boardwalk, etc. It was nuts.

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Curt Krieger says:

August 26, 2013 at 3:55 pm

Saw a drone being used during 2012 Leadville! Fun to see it in operation and seemed to be no effect on the runners.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/–5QFKtN0XJQ/UGOoqTTKO9I/AAAAAAAABGw/0Om_H6MS9lc/s320/SAM_2912.JPG

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Michael Taricani says:

August 27, 2013 at 4:59 am

I ran the “Run For The Cows” Half Marathon in Redding CT where a drone was used. Hardly knew it was over our heads. Great new perspective in video. I attached a link to the race video. At 1:47 there is some footage that was taken as we ran. I don’t see a problem with them but they should always be on the side of runners not directly overhead in case the motors fail.
BTW…great race and a well produced video.

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Eric Strand says:

August 27, 2013 at 8:36 pm

Drones couldn’t be any more annoying than I was at Leadville: http://youtu.be/633pEo2bzd4

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Jeff says:

August 30, 2013 at 9:42 am

I’ve got a smaller drone that’s just big enough for a GoPro, not nearly as loud as the larger ones. I’ve been experimenting with it at races, but mainly just around the start line (I may or may not have flown over a big-city marathon recently – try getting a permit for that).

Safety isn’t as much of a concern with these smaller ones, but it can be with the larger drones. They typically only use those with stunt people after a few, er.. accidents over the years. I think the only worry is that people will begin using them in large public gatherings like races without proper training / practice time, with wind, altitude, where the pilots are in new and changing environments, etc.

Best case scenario would be for only experienced and insured owner/operators to be using these at events. Filmmakers should subcontract to those who specialize in it and are always honing their skills. I don’t think we’ll see someone like JB buying one anytime soon.

But more often that not, we’ll just see lots of drones crashing into trees and things but without much consequence aside from a sad drone owner.

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1. Jeff says:
  
  August 30, 2013 at 9:44 am
  
  …Btw, the team at the African Attachment who produce the Salomon videos recently invested in one, but again I doubt they’ll be using it at events (only to chase Kilian). I believe that Seb Montaz subcontracts this.
  
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Pablo Diaz says:

April 23, 2014 at 7:30 pm

Estoy interesado en la adquisicion de un equipo drone. A quien contacto?
Pertenezco a bomberos de colombia.

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