Skip to main content

Tokai University Installs 325-LED Electronic Pacing Light System at Home Track



On Apr. 14 the Tokai University track and field team and Faculty of Engineering announced that in March they had installed an electronic pacing system at the university's home track at its Shonan campus. The pacing system involved LED lights placed around the edge of the track, which light up sequentially based on the set pace. It is the first time in Japan that this kind of system developed by a domestic manufacturer has been permanently installed at a track.

LED pacing systems are used internationally at Diamond League meets and high-level time trial races. Domestically they have been introduced at events like the National Championships 10000 m, Hokuren Distance Challenge and Hachioji Long Distance meets. They have become popular with fans for adding color to the visual presentation of the race and for making it easier to follow the pace of the race.

Tokai University began plans to develop and permanently install an electronic pacing system two years ago. The system was developed in collaboration with Takamizawa Cybernetics, a company headed by a Tokai graduate that develops, manufactures and markets social infrastructure-related electronic equipment. The system it made for the Tokai track features 325 LEDs positioned alongside the inside of the track. The LEDs can flash four different colors, including red and green.

The system is set to be used for the first time at the Tokai University Time Trials meet on Apr. 20. A university spokesperson commented, "The lighting system will be useful not only for track races, but also for repurposing as emergency lighting in the event of a disaster."

source article:

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
As much as I'm not a big fan of the wavelights (they are good for entertainment for the masses but I feel like records should be now separated between pre-post wavelights) I have to say that this is a smart and completely understandable move.

Should help with training athletes that are different levels, making it very practical and possibly their track meets will have higher attendance than before.

With the high cost just for renting those, having them permanently could be a win win situation long term too.
April 16, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
1 comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
12 comments
Read more

10 Meet Records and a National Record at Hyogo Relay Carnival

The grand prix distance events were absent from the program this year at the 73rd Hyogo Relay Carnival , with the top performances in the women's 5000 m and men's 10000 m Asics Challenge races going to steepler Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) in 15:49.48 and Japan-based Kenyan Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) in 28:12.42. But there were a lot of new meet records, and one national record. Ryosuke Kusumi (Shiga) set a T37-class NR of 58.35 m in the para men's 400 m. Kairi Ikeno (Suma Gakuen H.S.) came less than 2 seconds short of a new high school record in the women's 2000 m , beating her own MR from last year by over 3 seconds in 5:55.36, almost 17 seconds ahead of 2nd place. The top 5 all broke or tied the men's high jump meet record, with both Yuto Seko (FAAS) and Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) clearing 2.25 m and Takashi Eto (Kobe Digital Labo), Chao-Hsuan Fu (Taiwan) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) clearing 2.20 m. Yuki Hashioka (Fujitsu) won the men...
Post a Comment
Read more