With an increased demand to run the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, organizers are making it easier than ever to follow participants. The New York Road Runners and their partners are using new activations to give fans and spectators a more immersive experience across the 26.2 miles through the city’s five boroughs.
The marathon app, powered by Tata Consultancy Services, allows tracking of an unlimited number of runners. For the first time this year, it will allow spectators to track participants by their running club, something in great demand given the strength of those groups in New York.
More timing mats will improve tracking accuracy, and cameras at five locations on the route will allow spectators to watch runners at various points.
“People don’t want to just know the times that their runners are moving at, but they want to be able to see them,” said Rob Simmelkjaer, CEO of New York Road Runners.
Simmelkjaer said the app was downloaded more than 100,000 times last year, including by the mother of women’s winner Sharon Lokedi, who tracked the race from Kenya.
The app will have an uninterrupted live stream of the pro races with commentary from Olympians Des Linden and Galen Rupp and Paralympian Amanda McGrory.
“It’s just another way to allow fans to experience the marathon the way they wanted to,” Simmelkjaer said.
On the course, New Balance is sponsoring screens where runners at the start and spectators at five points on the course (miles 8, 16, 20, 23 and 26) can scan a QR code and upload videos of their cheer squads and runners.
While the race already has small cheer groups and large cheer stations by partners, NYRR hopes the videos add to the race atmosphere and excitement.
At the finish line in Central Park, Mastercard holders will have access to earpiece radios to listen to the live broadcast on WABC/ESPN2.
The activations add to the “biggest and boldest” marathon, Simmelkjaer said. “It’s not just that. It’s the crowds,” he added. “It’s the energy that comes from outside the race course that really makes this special, so we want to find any way we can to tap into that.”
Demand for race entry - both for the marathon and NYRR’s other events - has been at “peak levels” since the pandemic. More than 128,000 people submitted applications for the non-guaranteed entry, with NYRR selecting 5 percent of those. NYRR filled the rest of the more than 50,000 slots through other entry methods, including for runners from the canceled 2020 race, time qualifiers and charity programs, among other ways.
“Of course, there’s nothing like running the TCS New York City Marathon, so we know those folks who want to run, they want to run,” Simmelkjaer said. “This experience of following it - whether it’s in person, on television or on the app - will only whet that appetite even further to get in the race.
“This really has been the hottest ticket in town here in New York all year.”
