Tracking is a great way to motivate your participant while giving you the best chance of seeing them on the course. Participants who know they’ve got ‘eyes’ on them during the event often feel more determined to make you proud and never give up during the event. The practical use of tracking is also that you can be at the right place at the right time to see your loved one – while cheering as loud as you can of course!

Most smartphones now have the ability to share their location with select people. There are a few ways to use this to track your participant.

‘Find My’ app on Apple devices

On Apple phones there is a ‘Find My’ app where you can link devices. Simply ask your participant open the Settings app, tap their name, then tap Find My. They then need to turn on Share My Location. Family Sharing is also an option only to share location with select participants. Click here to find out how to do this.

Share Location on WhatsApp

Your runner can also share their location via WhatsApp. They must first enable location permissions for WhatsApp in their phone’s Settings > Tap Apps> WhatsApp > Permissions > Location > Turn on WhatsApp.

They can select from ‘Allow only while using the app,’ ‘Ask every time,’ and ‘Don’t allow.’

Once enabled, the individual can open an individual or group chat and tap Location > Share live location. They can then choose the amount of time and once done, those in the group can see a map with live location on the chat.

Strava Beacon Feature

Strava also has a feature called Beacon which offers location tracking. You need to be connected to your athlete on Strava first. Your runner must start a new run on Strava and tap the Beacon icon in the lower right. They then pick up three safety contacts who will receive their location during the event. An orange dot will indicate when Beacon is active and give an accurate GPS location which supporters can see on their app.

We hope these options are helpful and allow you to experience the event more closely with your participant on the big day. Although we discourage spectators at the finish line due to crowds, a finish line live streaming is available to watch through the website and our Manchester Marathon YouTube channel.

Happy spectating!