Pittsburgh Marathon invites runners to tweet their times

The Pittsburgh Marathon is inviting runners in this Sunday’s events to tweet their progress in real time along the race course. That doesn’t mean that participants will lug their Blackberries in their sweaty hands–the tweets will be transmitted via the electronic race chip that registrants wear on their sneakers.

With entries to the Pittsburgh race events up 60 percent compared with last year, its first after a five-year hiatus, Pittsburgh is poised to vault into the top 15 marathons in the country. Spokesperson Karen Fredette says that an estimated 5,000 runners will compete in the full marathon, with another 8,000 in the half-marathon and 3,000 competing in the marathon team relay. Big registration response from Pittsburgh runners to TweetMyTime could push the race into Sunday’s the “Top Tweets” trend list. Twitter posts the daily leaders live on its home page.

Developed by Huber Interative of Columbus, Ohio, TweetMyTime is a free service that doesn’t impact the Pittsburgh’s Marathon’ bottom line, said Fredette. Tweeting isn’t just a digital megaphone for runners to broadcast to their online fans. It provides a log for runners the review their performance during the race. The system tracks runners’ splits, or varying pace per mile, sending messages as they progress through the course and when they finish the race.

Fredette says last year’s marathon events, with 10,000 participants, generated $21.5 million in economic impact for the city. Marathon directors say they’re aiming to put Pittsburgh in the nation’s top 10 marathons in the next few years. That would mean surpassing Portland, Oregon’s 8,000 finishers in the 26.2 mile event.

Source: Karen Fredette, Pittsburgh Marathon
Writer: Chris O’Toole