Web Site Tracks Runners

While the rest of the state, enjoying a day off from work and school, cheers along the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston today, Harvard students, who are stuck in class, can follow friends, relatives and marathon leaders with the simple click of a mouse button.

The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) has updated its Web site--www.bostonmarathon.org--to provide virtually up-to-the-minute updates of all official runners.

"Last year there were updates every 20 minutes to half hour, this year we're hoping [to update] within three minutes," says Daniel J. Furlong, assistant media coordinator for the BAA.

The BAA, which originally launched the Web site in 1996 for the 100th marathon, completely redesigned the site for today's event, the 103rd Boston Marathon. The association introduced the new version Jan. 19.

This is the second year that computer users have been able to follow the race via the Internet.

The technology depends on the electronic timing of every runner, made possible by a computer chip that all official entrants attach to their shoes.

Every five kilometers, or 3.1 miles, runners cross a mat lying across the course that registers their time and place. This information is then posted on the BAA's Web site.

Visitors to the site can check on the progress of runners by entering the name, bib number or hometown.

According to Furlong, the BAA is expecting 1.5 million hits during today's race, up from 1.25 million last year.

"People in the office can log in and follow the race, to see who's leading, or if they have friends they can check [on their progress]," Furlong says. "Last year all the response we heard was very positive."

Harvard students with friends and relatives from out of town say they are excited about the new feature.

Timothy C. Harte '90, a resident tutor in Kirkland House, says his brother, who is working today, plans to follow Harte's progress via the Web.

Harte is also pleased because the site allows him to go back and check his pace over specific parts of the course.

"It's good for runners once the race is over to go and find out the exact split times throughout the race and see how other runners have paced," Harte says.

Furlong says this added use is a "bonus."

"Runners are an audience that are very computer literate to begin with," Furlong says, "The fact that after the race they can dial up and check their splits, to see where they slowed down, what areas [of the course] they needed to work on--they were thrilled with that."

Even "bandit" runners, those without an official number, are excited by this new technology.

"How cool is that? It's really exciting," says Charlotte W. Houghteling '02, who is running her first marathon. "Unfortunately we don't have numbers, but we're planning to qualify for next year."

The site is sponsored by KIVEX.com and Cisco Systems.