The Challenge
The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is the grand finale of the Canada Running Series (CRS). Since 2017, the race has served as the Athletics Canada national marathon championship race and has doubled as the Olympic trials. Producing content near the water always presents its challenges – the hours of running cables, the inability to cover every vantage point on the course, and the expenses incurred by using satellite and production trucks. The production knew with a comeback of this nature, they needed to do more with less while producing engaging content for the viewers at home.
The Solution
The race was produced by Astrodog Media, a production company that lent its talent to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The 8-camera production gave viewers an expansive view of the marathon course with cameras and LiveU LU800 HEVC backpacks on motorcycles covering the live action of the runners. A static camera was placed at the finish line to capture those record-breaking moments during the marathon. Leveraging their vast experience and passion for the race, commentators consisted of Krista DuChene, who placed 3rd at the 2018 Boston Marathon, Olympian Kate Van Buskirk, who competed in the 5,000m at Tokyo 2020, and Michael Doyle, a veteran journalist who has covered track and field for over a decade. The media tent featured play-by-play race commentary by the talent, another camera was used for live interviews along the race.
“It is an important sign that we are on the way back. Whether you’re with us in person on Sunday, running STWM virtually in 29 countries around the world, or watching the livestream, we hope that the race will be an enormous inspiration for Canadian running.”
Alan Brookes, Race Director at Canada Running Series