Whether you’re running in a marathon this year or just watching from the sidelines, there will be an app for that! The New York City Marathon on November 7 will feature support for an iPhone app for the first time this year, and it will include news alerts as well as live video of the professional race, but for a different way to “phone in the race” there will be the RaceMate app for the upcoming Marine Corp Marathon.
The race, which is set to take place on October 31, will be the first to provide GPS coverage with real-time connection between runners and followers. RaceMate is an app for the iPhone and Android smartphones as well as the Apple iPad, which can allow a follower to track the route and location of a runner in the race.
The system actually is unique in that for a $1.99 users get a course map, pace calculator and map locator for a single runner, or for a $2.99 upgrade, the ability to track multiple runners. The runner has to carry an iPhone or Android device, and can be tracked via another device. While we don’t think anyone will carry an iPad for the 26.2 miles, the tablet device can be used to track a runner, and race organizers believe up to 47 percent of the expected 30,000 runners will have a phone with them. Phones can run apps, and now runners can run with the phones.
[Via USAToday.com: Mobile app will track runners in Marine Corps Marathon]