On Sunday, March 21, 2010, Aerial Video Systems (AVS) continued their long-running tradition of providing the wireless camera feeds for the Los Angeles Marathon.  There were three significant firsts marking the 25^th annual LA Marathon.

First, this year’s race took a new “straight-line” approach.  Appropriately called the “Stadium to the Sea” route, this year’s course started at Dodger Stadium, wound through scenic Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills, ultimately concluding at the beach in Santa Monica.

For the first time, the broadcast was carried by KTLA-5 in Los Angeles.

Not only did the broadcast have a new course and a new broadcast home, this year marked the first time the LA Marathon was delivered in native HD.  In order to accomplish this, AVS utilized the latest technology from Link Research and MRC.   The Link HD/SD L1500 and MRC PTX-Pro microwave systems transmitted both video and audio signals from custom equipped Honda Ridgeline pickups to repeater-equipped helicopters hovering overhead.  The signals were then transmitted from the helicopters to a terrestrial receive site in the Hollywood Hills, where they were turned around and re-transmitted to KTLA in Hollywood.

 This year also marked the 7^th annual “LA Marathon Challenge”, which provides the elite women with an approximately 18 minute head start over the elite men.  The time differential sets up a dramatic race to the finish line between the elite men and women with the winner picking up a bonus of $100,000 in prize money.

 To follow progress and excitement of the Challenge, AVS employed the next generation 3D GPS driven marathon course map plotting the exact locations of the lead female and male runners and their relative positions to each other.   This allows the viewing audience to experience the drama of the Challenge and the fight to the finish line while getting a much more detailed look at the runners’ surroundings.  “The added detail of the new 3D map really brings the map to life, showing the elevation changes that the runners have to contend with.” said Herb Chapin the designer of the tracking program.  This 3D GPS tracking system is a proprietary technology of AVS and developed specifically for the LA Marathon.

 The 2010 L.A. Marathon was broadcast live on KTLA-5 and a tape delayed broadcast was carried on Universal Sports, which is carried via cable by more than 45 million homes across the nation.