It’s Patriots’ Day here in Massachusetts (as well as Wisconsin and Maine1), which means it’s also Marathon Monday in and around Boston. The world’s most prestigious marathon brings tens of thousands of runners to the course2, but none of the physical energy they expend is recovered. A company called Pavegen Systems is trying to change that, and had a demonstration of their product during the Paris Marathon back on the 7th.
The tiles generated up to 8 watts with each step, Bloomberg’s Alex Morales reported. Admittedly that’s nothing. But with 40,000 runners it was enough to power screens and signs throughout the race. Not bad for a start.
Neat.
Footnotes:
Though pedants may note that in Maine, it’s apparently “Patriot’s Day”.↩︎
There are also several few hundred bikers who ride the Midnight Marathon the night before the race. I’ve run the course, and last night I joined in the Midnight Marathon. You might be surprised to learn that biking it is much, much easier.↩︎
