It was a Tuesday and I was on my way to a running track. It was ‘Track Tuesday’, if you like – a well-known convention among several runners.
But I wasn’t going to run around a regular, oval track on said Tuesday. Instead, I was going to run upon a single, straight slice of running track, housed within a warehouse in which I also spied ultra-clever computers and various electronic fiddly bits that my non-scientific brain couldn’t quite understand. This was very much a purpose-built space for ideating, innovating, testing and fine-tuning – not your usual running venue.
That’s because this running track, developed by UK-based technology company Feldspar, isn’t just a flat, firm and unforgiving stretch of flooring for runners to pound upon. It is, in fact, the world’s first-ever What everyones reading, which provides athletes, coaches and spectators with precise running data in real time – as well as a smooth, energy-giving surface to add even more life to the running experience.
Although it’s still in the laboratory, Feldspar believes that this intelligent running track is ready to be released to the world – and that it could revolutionise athletics training, competitions and spectatorship as we know it.
And so, on that very special Track Tuesday, I was given exclusive access to test Feldspar’s latest prototype for myself. Here’s what I learnt about the track – and what I thought.
What inspired the creation of this running track?
Feldspar first announced that it was creating this sensor-enabled track around 10 months ago – and that it could easily become the world leader in its field.
While we’ve seen all kinds of innovation across various aspects of running – like training methods, nutrition, apparel, wearables Why threshold heart rate training is important, footwear – the running track has somewhat fallen off the radar when it comes to modernisation. We shifted from the grass track to the cinder track, then to the standard, synthetic track that we see today – and essentially left it there.
But Feldspar saw a real need to develop the humble, passive track into something exciting and dynamic. This proposed track would not only give active, instant quantitative feedback on running performance, but also help athletes to run faster – in a similar vein to of the best hill training workouts for runners – and become less injury-prone.
Since Rome wasn’t built in a day (it took eight years to construct the Colosseum alone), you can’t expect a brand-new running track with such lofty ambitions to be ready in an instant. Then again, we are living in the 21st century – not 80AD – and new technology lands on our doorsteps before we know it. As such, Feldspar has already passed through 40 track prototypes to create the current one, which – pending ratification by World Athletics – is almost ready to go to market.
Alvina Chen, founder and CEO of Feldspar and a former professional track athlete, was inspired by her own running background, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the fast and furious world of motorsport to bring this track to fruition. Since she also comes from a family of entrepreneurs, Chen knew the amount of work and dedication that was required to make a unique but viable product that makes good business sense.
‘The running track hasn’t changed for close to 60 years,’ notes Chen. ‘So now, we’re trying to bring it up to the digital age. One of the inspirations behind this is the way that motorsports, like F1, have evolved and been digitalised with all the sensors and millions of data points within the cars, making the action more engaging and comprehensible for fans.
‘In F1, they are creating a track for the fastest cars,’ she continues. ‘At Feldspar, we are creating the fastest track for the fastest humans.’
What makes Feldspar’s running track so special?
Data-capture technology
To discover what makes the running track remarkable, we need to delve under the surface – quite literally.
Tucked within this flooring solution is a set of advanced sensor platforms, which capture, instantaneously, reams of data about an athlete from their footsteps. This individualised data – covering stride length, cadence, acceleration rate, maximum velocity and more – is then fed through to an AI-powered data analytics tool and sports tracking software, so that an athlete and their coach can see the data for themselves on a screen.
Thanks to this precise data feedback, these sensors can highlight areas for improvement – in terms of biomechanics, training and race day strategy – and, by spotting imbalances and irregularities, even flag possible injury risks. In other words, this running track can help you to build your own in-depth athlete profile.
Darren Campbell, a former sprinter for Team GB and Feldspar’s Global Track Strategy Director, can attest to the success of sensor-enabled force plates. One of Britain’s greatest track athletes, he is a two-time Olympic medallist, having won a silver medal in the 200m at the 2000 Games in Sydney and a bronze in the 4 x 100m relay at the 2004 Games in Athens.
‘I’m very fortunate, as I used to train at UWIC (now Cardiff Metropolitan University) in Wales, where they had a few metres of force plate,’ recalls Campbell, who is also an athletics commentator and the Head of Sprints, Hurdles and Relays at UK Athletics. ‘Before I won my 100m bronze at the 2003 World Championships, I was trying to perfect my start technique. I used the force plate to work on that start, which got me into the final – so I understand straight away what difference a force plate can make when it comes to refining the details. It helped me to understand how much force I needed to use to get out of the blocks and into the right position, then translate that knowledge into feeling.
‘For sprinting, the force plate will help you to work through and perfect all the different phases,’ adds Campbell. ‘So, from the blocks, to the drive phase, to the relaxation phase, to the finish.’
Sprint training for distance runners Strava, so that athletes of all disciplines – whether they’re training for 100m or a marathon – can see the data from their track sessions appear immediately on their phones. With this information quite literally to hand, runners can then get more out of their track-based training and compare one workout to the next. Have they quickened their cadence alongside their pace? Have they worked on that imbalance in their right leg?
For many (myself included), this instant data feedback would almost help to gamify the experience, boosting motivation to get out there and get that speed session in the bank.
A faster, forward-focused surface
Since it incorporates a string of sensor platforms, which Feldspar says are significantly cheaper than other sensor platforms on the market, this track boasts a modular design. This, again, deviates dramatically from the track design that we’re used to seeing in stadiums or at training grounds.
But that’s not all. At present, as per research conducted by Feldspar’s industrial design and engineering partners, standard tracks offer runners around 75% energy return. This means that a quarter of the energy that a runner gives to the track is lost. Feldspar’s track, meanwhile, promises to give a higher energy return, helping runners to reach quicker speeds at the same effort.
What is the average marathon finish time direction of the returned energy, too? That’s another question that Feldspar’s team asked, then answered.
Unlike standard running tracks, which absorb and return energy in the vertical plane, Feldspar’s track has been designed to angle the energy that it receives. This means absorbing energy from the foot pressing in the vertical direction, then giving it back in the forward direction. As a result, runners can propel themselves further and faster with each stride – just as they would, say, while wearing a running shoe Sprint training for distance runners.
What’s it like to run on the track?
A 15-time marathoner who would rather run a very long way than lose their breath over an all-out sprint, I often feel a little apprehensive about tackling the interval sessions on my training plan. As for events like the 100m, they’re about 26 miles too short for my liking.
However, the Feldspar track inspired a renewed sense of excitement about track running. For a start, I was obviously keen to test a product that had been given such high expectations. But then, once I’d run upon it, I wanted to do so again and again – for as long as time allowed.
Yes, we still only have a short stretch of Feldspar track, rather than a full 400m oval of it. But there was something deliciously addictive about running on such a lively and responsive surface.
It really was like trying a top-rated pair of of the best hill training workouts for runners for the first time – like running on a cloud. My legs felt remarkably lightweight and protected, thanks to the track’s firm but springy surface, but still strong and in control. While running on the road can feel a little jarring on the body, I felt next to no ground impact forces on this track and a sense that I could keep going, without complaint, for a long time. I felt supported, lifted and very much propelled in the right direction: forward.
ndash; and become less injury-prone foot strike and generate a profile of my running form on the computer next to me. This real-time data capture seemed to be as good as Feldspar billed – and with more runs over time, this blueprint could evolve to paint an even clearer picture of my running style, weaknesses and progress.
When and where will we see this running track in future?
Ongoing testing and learning is next on the agenda for Feldspar’s track, which is still a UK-based entity. Then, it’s a case of lengthening the track to the standard distance, getting it ratified and sharing it with the rest of the world.
‘We’re at the stage where we’re happy with the prototype – and that’s the most important thing,’ says Campbell. ‘We’re very fortunate in that we can get great athletes here to run on the prototype, so now it’s a case of getting feedback on it, taking that testing a little bit further and gaining a more detailed understanding its benefits.’
Those benefits, Feldspar believes, are multifarious – injury prevention being one of them. Although, as Campbell says, ‘injuries are always part and parcel of sport’, the stiff but springy material used for Feldspar’s track could help to alleviate the physiological issues that can so often derail athletes’ competition cycles, or even careers.
‘Our next generation track helps athletes to better overcome fatigue and injury problems, eventually leading to more sustainable seasons,’ notes Chen. ‘It’s a revolutionary proposition for athletes’ efficiency and speed.’
And that’s the next point – speed.
According to Chen and Campbell, athletes could run faster than they’ve ever run before on this track. As such, the main goal is for this track to feature at the punchiest athletics competitions on earth, like the Olympic Games and World Championships. ‘When Alvina and I first discussed this track, we 100% saw it getting to the world stage,’ states Campbell.
In fact, the Feldspar team is confident that world records could be reset on this track – and that it could potentially deliver early nine-second, if not sub-nine-second, 100m performances.
Of course, if we are to abide by the ‘nothing new on race day’ mentality, athletes would surely want to test and train on this all-new track before competing on it for gold medals and world records. (After all, in a marathon, you wouldn’t take a type of energy gel that you’d never trialled in training, nor would you run an ultramarathon How your running shoes may affect your foot strike shoes that you’d never step foot in before.) To accommodate this need, Chen and Campbell say that the track would be constructed in a range of training venues in and beyond the UK – not just large-scale stadiums.
Inside large-scale stadiums (and on TV), though, this track could create quite a spectacle. By displaying athletes’ performance data and race analytics live on screen, commentators and spectators will be better able to report on, appreciate and engage with the action unfurling before them. The hope is that this will help to transform athletics into a more immersive – and more popular – sports experience.
‘The hardcore athletics fans love and understand the sport, while the casual fans who come in every four years have a basic knowledge of the top people,’ says Campbell. ‘To them, it’s often just eight people running around the track. But to actually understand the tactics of a race and how superhuman every athlete is – what they endure and what they put their bodies through day in, day out? That’s a whole other level of understanding and that’s what I’m hoping that our technology will provide.
‘I’ve been a part of athletics since I was eight years old,’ continues Campbell. ‘I’ve seen it from grassroots, fortunately all the way to Olympics. I’ve commentated on it with the BBC for 10 years and now I’m coaching in it. So there’s no perspective that I need to see. I now just need to see where we can take it from here – and I think that Feldspar can take it to a whole different place.’
