How to Track a Runner in the New York Marathon

Drawing athletes from across the globe, the ING New York City Marathon is a premier sporting event garnering millions of viewers worldwide. Fans of the race can use the benefits of modern technology to keep track of their favorite runners, even if they can't attend the race itself. Major companies have partnered with the ING to give race fans a variety of ways to track race participants, whether they're on their computers or on the go.

Instructions

    • 1

      Follow your favorite athletes on race day by visiting the official ING New York City Marathon site and entering a runner's name, country or bib number into the "Athlete Tracker." This sponsored service is free for fans and allows for the tracking of up to three runners online. Use this service to tack the times of runners as they cross the mat for each split.

    • 2

      Sign up for "Athlete Alert" at the official site to get text message tracking updates on up to three runners at once. Every time the selected runners cross a 5K split, a text alert will be sent to your phone. In 2010, a subscription to this service cost $2.99 for domestic numbers and $5.99 for international number.

    • 3

      Download the "Marathon Mobile" iPhone App from the iTunes store. The basic version of this application, designed for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, is free, while the premium version costs $3.99, as of 2010. This app gives you multiple ways to track runners, including split tracking, and viewing the runners' paths in relation to your own location.