Runners World
My daughter ran in a 10 Km race on Sunday, and I was very impressed with her ability to stick with it and work hard and get a very good result. I never had the “intestinal fortitude” to run (I get bored, sore and I stop), and that kind of “drive” is important in Life (and can be applied to Personal Financial Planning easily). An ability to deal with a short term pain for a long term gain is what runners are all about.
More interestingly was the technology around the race, which was very unobtrusive but gave amazing results. Each runner had a radio transponder ankle bracelet, so that their “time” was very real, since it started when they crossed the start line and stopped after the crossed the finish line (given the number of people starting in MASSIVE races like the Boston Marathon, I now understand better how they can get such clear times).
What was MORE amazing was the web site that the Running Community in Ontario (or is it Canada) has where all I had to do to find my daughter’s results was, open the page type in her name and the results appeared on line right there. Now that is a good use of technology.
I wish financial tools on line and on computers were that easy to use. Some are relatively straight forward like the Bank Web Sites, Quicken and Microsoft Money, but end up becoming very cumbersome, because they are trying to attract too broad a customer base (i.e. be all things to all customers). Something a little simpler might be what is needed?
I was impressed with this whole running thing.
