Overview
Technology meets endurance
The TCS Sydney Marathon presented by ASICS is one of Australia's largest and fastest-growing sporting events, attracting almost 40,000 participants and hundreds of thousands of spectators across a city-wide course. Managing an event of this scale requires far more than logistics. It demands reliable connectivity, real-time visibility, seamless coordination and the ability to make critical decisions in the moment. As the TCS Sydney Marathon continues to establish itself as a world-class event, organisers needed a technology partner capable of helping them deliver a safer, more connected and more engaging experience for participants, spectators, broadcasters and operational teams alike.
Through a multi-year partnership TCS Sydney Marathon and Telstra came together to explore how advanced connectivity, network intelligence and emerging technologies could unlock new possibilities for major events.
Rather than treating connectivity as supporting infrastructure, the partnership focused on turning the network into an active enabler of operations, decision-making and customer experiences. Telstra brought together Dynamic 5G, Dynamic Connect, Network APIs, analytics and location technologies to create a more intelligent event ecosystem.
The result was more than a marathon technology program, rather, it was a live demonstration of how organisations can use network capabilities to help improve operational awareness, support resilience and create richer experiences at scale. By applying innovative technology in a real-world environment, the TCS Sydney Marathon has become a showcase for the future of connected events and a powerful example of how digital innovation can create measurable value across industries.
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0+participants and spectators supported through Telstra-enabled connectivity
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0+medical and event personnel supported with communications and location technologies
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0countries represented
Challenge
Visibility across scale
As the TCS Sydney Marathon has grown, delivering a seamless race day experience has become increasingly complex. Organisers are responsible for managing participants, spectators, volunteers, medical teams, broadcasters, transport stakeholders and operational crews spread across an entire city. Traditional event management methods offered limited visibility and often relied on fragmented data sources, making it harder to anticipate issues and coordinate responses in real time.
At the same time, audience expectations continue to rise. Participants expect live tracking, seamless digital experiences and reliable mobile services. Spectators want easier ways to follow participants and navigate crowded precincts. Broadcasters require dependable connectivity capable of delivering high-quality live coverage in highly congested environments. Meanwhile, operational teams need faster access to information to support safety, crowd management and medical response activities.
Network performance presented another critical challenge. Large crowds place significant pressure on communications infrastructure at precisely the moments when connectivity is most important. Medical teams, event controllers and broadcast operations can’t afford performance degradation when making time-sensitive decisions. Event organisers needed a solution that could prioritise critical services while maintaining visibility across the broader event environment.
Beyond race day, TCS Sydney Marathon wanted to explore how data and network insights could transform future planning, improve operational decision-making and create more engaging experiences for attendees and fans. Achieving this required a partner capable of combining connectivity, analytics, location intelligence and innovation into a unified solution.
One thing for us is safety of the crowd. So using Network Analytics with Telstra, we're going to monitor the crowd both live and post as the crowd moves around the precinct.
Vaiju Joshi
Portfolio Director, Mobility - South Australian Police
Solution
A connected event platform
To help address these challenges, TCS Sydney Marathon partnered with Telstra to explore how advanced connectivity, network analytics, location intelligence and emerging technologies could support the events continued growth. Together, the teams identified opportunities to improve participant experiences, strengthen operational coordination and enhance broadcast delivery.
At the core of the solution was Dynamic 5G, which provided dedicated network performance for critical services through 5G slicing. This enabled operational, medical and broadcast functions to maintain reliable connectivity, even when network demand was at its peak. Dynamic Connect complemented this capability by combining fibre, satellite and mobile connectivity to support high-quality live broadcast delivery across the event footprint.
To improve event intelligence, Telstra introduced location APIs and network analytics that provided near real-time visibility into crowd density movement patterns. and operational activity. Network analytics use data from devices connected to the Telstra network to understand crowd movement. This data is then scaled using Telstra's market share to estimate movement across the wider population. It's used for live and historical crowd insights.
In essence, these insights helped organisers better understand conditions across the course , supporting faster decisions and more informed resource allocation.
Telstra also demonstrated emerging innovations such as RTK positioning technology, capable of coordinating a precise medical response, tracking people, vehicles and assets with far greater precision than traditional GPS. By combining connectivity, analytics and precise location intelligence, the solution established a foundation for future capabilities such as enhanced runner tracking, automated workflows, operational dashboards and richer participant experiences.
Using Dynamic 5G does two things for us. It helps sustainability [and] it also gives us assured communications for broadcast.
Michael Young
Program Lead, TCS Sydney Marathon, Pont3
Approach
Built through partnership
Rather than implementing technology for technology’s sake, TCS Sydney Marathon and Telstra worked collaboratively to identify where innovation could deliver meaningful outcomes. The partnership centred on a shared objective: creating safer, smoother and more memorable experiences for everyone connected to the TCS Sydney Marathon.
The approach focused on three distinct experience areas:
- Participant and spectator experience
Telstra used network analytics and APIs to help improve crowd flow, enhance runner tracking and provide greater visibility across the event. - Broadcast delivery and critical communications support
Telstra used Dynamic Connect and Dynamic 5G to support reliable live broadcast coverage across the marathon course and helped provide dedicated network performance for medical team communications. - Operational safety
Telstra helped improve location visibility across medical teams, vehicles, participants/spectators and critical assets, supporting faster coordination and more effective resource management.
By embedding innovation into live event operations, the partnership created a practical proving ground for solutions that can extend far beyond sport, offering lessons and opportunities for industries ranging from retail and logistics to mining and emergency services.
It's not about the technology per se, it's really about what we can enable it to do.
Michael Young
Program Lead, TCS Sydney Marathon, Pont3
Impact
Setting a new benchmark
The TCS Sydney Marathon demonstrates how organisations can transform connectivity from a utility into a strategic business capability. By combining dedicated network performance, location intelligence and operational analytics, the TCS Sydney Marathon gained greater visibility across a highly complex event environment, enabling more informed decisions and improved coordination.
For participants and spectators, the partnership created opportunities for richer and more connected experiences. Technologies such as network analytics, location APIs and precision positioning establish the foundation for future experiences that help supporters follow participants, improve navigation and create more personalised engagement throughout the event.
Operationally, the ability to better locate teams, monitor event conditions and support medical response activities has the potential to improve safety and efficiency across large-scale events. Meanwhile, Dynamic Connect and Dynamic 5G showcased how modern connectivity can help support critical broadcast workflows and operational systems, even in highly congested environments.
Perhaps most importantly, the marathon provides a blueprint for the future. The same technologies demonstrated across the event can be applied to industries facing similar operational complexity, including emergency services, retail, logistics, mining and major infrastructure projects.
The TCS Sydney Marathon explores how advanced connectivity, network intelligence and programmable networks can help deliver safer, smarter and more connected event experiences and demonstrates how network as a product can turn network capabilities into services that support better decisions, more resilient operations and new digital experiences.
Even by next year, we should be the benchmark in terms of technology, the way it's done, but also what it delivers as an experience uplift.
Michael Young
Program Lead, TCS Sydney Marathon, Pont3
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