Even if you can’t physically be with your loved one during their half marathon journey, you can still be with them every step of the way with live location tracking.

Most smartphones now have the ability to share their location with select people. Below are the best ways to track your participant at the Manchester Half 2025.

NOTE: You'll need to ask your participant to share their live location via their phone at the event.

‘Find My’ app on Apple devices

On Apple phones there is a ‘Find My’ app which can share the user's live location.  Simply ask your participant to open the 'Find My' app, tap the 'People' tab, select a contact (you), and then tap 'Share My Location' to choose a duration and send the request. Click here if you have any issues.

Share Location on WhatsApp

Your participant 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.

Once this is enabled, simply ask your participant to open a chat with you, tap the 'Attach' (paperclip) icon, select 'Location', then tap 'Share live location' and choose a duration.

You will be able to 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 participant must start a new run on Strava and tap the Beacon icon in the lower right. They then pick up to three 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 day. Although we discourage spectators at the finish line due to crowds, a finish line live stream is available to watch through the website and our Manchester Marathon YouTube channel.

We are also offering a 2 mile to go text notification for supporters, you can find out more about this and how to sign up here.

Happy spectating!