Urban running

Tokyo – The Green Light Run gamified marathon experience has helped runners to navigate the city.

• The course, created by adidas to promote its new store in Harajuku, focused on city running
• Participants received phone alerts to help them complete the course without stopping

Guided by traffic data, the race involved 30 runners navigating the city’s complex network of traffic lights. The aim was to complete the 26-mile run without being stopped by red lights at crossings. If stopped, runners were eliminated.

Competitors ran from midnight until dusk, receiving alerts on their phones when they were at risk of missing a green light. To create these alerts, adidas combined traffic data from the local police department with traffic light patterns, distance, timing and safety parameters.

Tokyo has 15,772 traffic signals, compared to the 6,252 recorded in London by the Institute of Advanced Motorists in 2015, making it a particularly difficult city to navigate as a runner.