Guide to the new Boston Marathon app

– By Sinead Mulhern

If you are following any training partners or loved ones doing Boston, The Boston Athletic Association’s new Boston Marathon app, BAA 2015 is a must. It’s a handy one-stop-shop for all things athletes, fans and spectators need for race day. Here’s a quick play-by-play on how to use the app’s features.

It’s slick design is basic making it easy to navigate. The homepage is free of clutter featuring just the necessities. To get the extras, simply hit the tab on the side to find what you need.

Having the app on your phone is going to save a lot of time and frustration because all your need-to-know info is in one place. That means no frantic last-minute Google searches or scrolling through pages trying to find that one simple detail. Race day basics include the schedule, route and expo map, the weather in Boston, results and news briefs from the race. Can’t remember when number pick-up is? Having trouble finding your way through the expo? That’s all there.

When the race gets going, spectators can stay on top of their favourite runners by tracking their splits and miles. Track runners whether they are your friends, family, favourite stars or the elite field.

The apps also includes informational extras that aren’t absolute necessities for race day, but are always handy to have at your fingertips. Get in an argument about who won Boston in 1996? There’s a complete list of the champions, times and years they won. Think you’re witnessing a Boston record first hand? There’s also documentation of all Boston Marathon records and a little race recap for each year dating all the way back to 1897.

There’s also room for the fun stuff. There’s a section to track the race on social media. Now you can have the Boston Marathon and Boston Athletic Association’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram  and Vimeo all in one place. Plus you can view other users’ photos and comments under popular hashtags. For the major social media junkie, there’s also a handy tool that turns your photos from race day into a shareable postcard. Simply upload your photo and choose a design.

Last year’s app 

Last year, Boston launched their Boston Marathon World Run app which was designed to bring runners from across the globe together to participate in the 2014 marathon when they couldn’t be there physically. That gave runners the opportunity to experience the Boston buzz despite obstacles that kept them from away from the start. (Like if travel wasn’t an option or if they were unable to qualify, for example.)

This year’s app is definitely a must-have for those who are racing or who will be watching from the crowd or at home. Using it is a way to be involved, organized and fret-free.