19,000 users | 218,000 Progress Alerts | 24,000 Cheers
The 2017 AACR Philadelphia Marathon’s participants and supporting friends and family fully embraced RaceJoy’s race day technology and broke all RaceJoy’s usage records with 19,000 participants and spectators making use of the app to track and send cheers to runners. These 19,000 sent the most cheers ever to be delivered in RaceJoy and received the greatest number of progress alerts ever delivered at a single race. This was the first time RaceJoy’s tracking was available at the Philadelphia Marathon and it was great to see participants and their friends and family embrace its features.
Race organizers offered RaceJoy to participants of the marathon, half marathon and 8K courses for live phone tracking, GPS-based progress alerts at every mile and audio cheer sending. They also offered traditional Bib tag progress alerts as an alternative tracking to those that were not using RaceJoy.
With RaceJoy’s tracking, spectators were able to track their participant’s blue dot as it moved along the course so that they could plan where and when to meet up with their favorite runner. With 30,000 runners and 60,000 spectators eager to cheer on runners at the race site, RaceJoy’s live tracking was a very helpful tool for finding one another and managing the on-site race experience. It’s no wonder there were more than 24,000 motivational cheers sent were over the course of the weekend!
The Philadelphia Marathon is one of our country’s greatest iconic events and is known as one of the top ten marathon events in the United States. For those supporting spectators who couldn’t make it to the race site, RaceJoy provided the opportunity to track their favorite participants in real-time as they moved the along the official race course. Fans showed their support from around the globe and across the nation.
“I was unable to get to Philadelphia this morning but was able to follow my sister as she pushed for to the finish line. I felt like I was right there on the streets of Philadelphia. Thanks, RaceJoy. Wonderful App.” – Marina S.
Top 10 Philadelphia Marathon Spectator Locations:
Participants and those tracking them received progress updates at every mile through RaceJoy’s Progress Alert system that provide performance information like pace and estimated finish time. RaceJoy issued a whopping 218,000 progress alerts that were delivered instantly as participants crossed each mile marker on the course! Participants had the option of having these alerts posted to their Twitter or Facebook pages as shown below.
The race, in its 23rd year, is recognized by the flat terrain, mellow weather, engaging atmosphere and spirited fans. Participants of the Philadelphia Marathon saw beautiful views through Fairmount Park and along the Schuylkill River while weaving through the well-traveled streets of the historic districts, and as they passed sights familiar to Franklin and Washington. Participants ended the race at the majestic Art Museum.
The race organizers also included Geo-Cheer Point audio clips that played across the participant’s phone as he/she crossed certain points along the course. The race used these cheer points to highlight sponsors while sending encouraging messages to participants.
Check out this cheer message from AACR:
Other cheer points included messages from ACME Markets, Lyft, Dunkin’ Donuts and Yards Brewing Company. Sponsors were also showcased in the interactive course map as shown below.
It’s clear the race organizers are dedicated to making the Philadelphia Marathon a one-of-a-kind marathon. Thank you for including RaceJoy, and helping us to change the race day experience! And, congratulations on breaking RaceJoy’s usage records by strides!
Interested in Offering RaceJoy?
Learn more about the advanced tracking and cheer features for participants and spectators and all the tools available to race organizers on the RaceJoy website or your RunSignUp dashboard. To RaceJoy Ready your event, we require a two-week lead time prior to the race date and an electronic version of the course map (KML/GPX format preferred).
