Whether you’re in town to spectate the Boston Marathon in person or you’re planning to tune into the broadcast and track runners from home, there are several ways you can follow the progress of runners.
If you’re going to watch the race in person to cheer on friends or family members, download the B.A.A. Racing app from the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), which is already live in the App store and Google Play.
The app relays when runners pass any of the 16 checkpoints along the course.
“Folks can track as many runners as they’d like,” says Chris Lotsbom, BAA director of race communications and media. “This is perfect for spectators to gauge what time their athlete is set to finish.”
The app will also feature leaderboards, maps, selfie frames, race information for runners and spectators, participant and spectator guides, weather forecast updates from the BAA’s partners at the local WCVB television station, and more.
New to the app this year is tracking and results for Saturday’s Boston 5K presented by Point32Health, as well as for the B.A.A. Invitational Miles, taking place that same day.
“We annually see that [the app] is incredibly popular among spectators and athletes, often rising to the top of sports app charts in the month of April,” says Lotsbom. “Usually the most tracked athletes are either from the pro field, or celebrities who may be running.”
You can also track participants on the race website, BAA.org, which will feature searchable results, leaderboards, splits and tracking.
“The site will switch over to a tracking race day specific page the morning of the race,” he says. “In case it’s helpful for anyone trying to plan out their spectating in person, we also have town-by-town tips on our website, too.”
And for those interested in following the professional and elite races, the Boston Marathon will air locally from 4am to 8pm ET on WCVB-TV, the BAA’s official local television partner. Nationally, the race will air on ESPN2 from 8.30am to 12.30pm ET. The Boston Marathon start time for the professional men is 9.37am and 9.47am for the professional women.
“There will be lots of coverage on WCVB and ESPN in the lead-up to race day,” says Lotsbom.
If you’re not in the US when the race starts, find out how to watch the Boston Marathon where you are.
