NEW YORK & AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New York Road Runners [“NYRR”] and MapMyRUN, today announced a partnership to launch a next-generation suite of official ING New York City Marathon Web, mobile, and tablet spectator applications. NYRR premiered a first-generation suite of applications designed to enhance the race day experience of participants and spectators alike in 2010. Additionally, the partnership provides that MapMyRUN will serve as a strategic technology partner collaborating with NYRR and the ING New York City Marathon through 2013.
The apps give both race participants and spectators the means to bring a new excitement to their respective race day experiences. Moreover, these event specific apps boast a feature set that markedly sets them apart from other spectator and tracking oriented apps. Significantly, the apps are the first to integrate both popular RFID chip timing and GPS technology to allow the real time tracking of race participants. Additional key functionality components of the apps include:
- Listing and search of race participants and related participant profiles
- SMS, email, and mobile device push notification delivery of participant progress
- Live race day video content from the course plus other NYRR-produced video features including segments from NYRR Live™ and The Daily Cool Down™
- NYRR’s official map of the ING New York City Marathon course that includes; the elevation profile, mile markers, and points of interest such as best spectator viewpoints, race course entertainment and first aid, hydration and food stations
- Official ING New York City Marathon content
- Schedule of ING New York City Marathon week activities including; pre-race, race day and post race events
- Mash-up of MapMyRUN and other social networks which enables the broadcast of participant and spectator activity across all social media platforms
- Display of various social networking feeds, e.g., Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr
“These ING New York City Marathon spectator applications will leverage the entirety of our Web, mobile and tablet, technologies to deliver the New York Road Runners a market-leading, multi-faceted suite of race day tools that has the potential to dramatically augment runner and spectator participation and engagement,” said Robin J. Thurston, co-founder of MapMyFITNESS.
“This partnership with MapMyRUN builds on our strategy to partner with best-in-class companies who can add-value to our ongoing efforts to improve the ING New York City Marathon brand experience for both participants and spectators,” said Mary Wittenberg, President and CEO of the New York Road Runners. “We believe we have only begun to tap into the rich engagement opportunity that digital technologies can offer our runners, spectators, sponsors and partners – and look forward to realizing our vision for creating an unparalleled interactive brand experience through this collaboration.
The ING New York City Marathon is set for November 6, 2011. NYRR plans to release the ING New York City Marathon spectator applications for download by October 28, 2011. The suite of applications will be available at the Apple App store, Android marketplace and through NYRR at http://www.ingnycmarathon.org.
For more information about the ING New York City Marathon visit, http://www.ingnycmarathon.org. Additional Information regarding MapMyRUN is available at www.mapmyrun.com.
New York Road Runners
Headquartered in New York City, New York Road Runners is dedicated to advancing the sport of running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and meeting our community’s needs. Our goal is to use the expertise acquired in our 53-year history to empower all people to live fitter, healthier lives through participation in our races, community events, instruction and training resources, and youth programs. Our races and other events draw more than 300,000 people each year. The ING New York City Marathon, NYRR’s premier event, is the largest and most inclusive marathon in the world, attracting the world’s top professional runners every year and raising $30.8 million for charity in 2010. NYRR’s running-based youth programs, which currently serve more than 100,000 children in hundreds of schools and community centers, promote children’s health and fitness, character development, and personal achievement in underserved communities. For more information, visit www.nyrr.org.
The ING New York City Marathon
The premier event of New York Road Runners, the ING New York City Marathon is one of the world’s great road races, drawing more than 140,000 applicants. The race attracts many world-class professional athletes, not only for the $800,000 in prize money, but also for the chance to excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering spectators and an estimated worldwide broadcast reach of more than 300 million. As any one of the past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime. For more information visit www.ingnycmarathon.org.
About MapMyRUN:
MapMyRUN is the running specific website of MapMyFITNESS, Inc. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, MapMyFITNESS was founded in 2007 and operates a suite of fitness-oriented websites and associated mobile and tablet applications including MapMyRUN.com, MapMyRIDE.com, MapMyWALK.com, MapMyHIKE.com, MapMyFITNESS.com, MapMyMOUNTAIN.com and MapMyTRI.com. MapMyFITNESS provides more than 3 million runners, cyclists, walkers, and other fitness enthusiasts with access to an innovative geo-mapping application that permits them to track and store their daily running, cycling, walking or hiking routes in an online database, a searchable database of routes across the globe, essential community-based fitness content, unique online training tools and fitness calculators, comprehensive global event listings, and a dynamic social network of healthy and active individuals. MapMyFITNESS’s iMapMy mobile apps use the built-in GPS technology of the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android to enable users to record and chart their daily fitness activities and routes right on their devices. For more information about MapMyFITNESS and its offerings, visit www.mapmyftnessinc.com.