Let’s tell it like it is: Cross country, or even distance events like the 10,000 meters at track and field meets, can be…well, monotonous, for lack of a more polite term. The same line of thinking can even be applied to marathons.

And observing distance events can be awkward or trying in more than one way—if you’re an average individual watching cross country or a marathon, the participants run by where you’re stationed, and that’s it—no visual updates about lead changes or, ultimately, winners. These days and times, somebody may be able to update somebody else via cell phone, but that’s still an amateurish effort by a fellow spectator.