Boston to host the first-ever virtual marathon
The first-ever virtual marathon is scheduled to take place at the beginning of the following month in Boston, Massachusetts.
Like other events, the runners will operate on track but in various places.
Rather than lining up in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and making the long trek to Boston, athletes will run this year's marathon solo because of the coronavirus pandemic, reports AP.
The real runners can do the effort, and an interactive mobile application can help augment their not-quite-authentic experience. A weeklong TV special and the brand new mobile application will showcase their stories as they go the distance by themselves.
Amazon and WBZ-TV are teaming through to a "Boston Marathon Live" broadcast which will be aired nightly starting September 7, through September 13.
The marathon normally is run on a Monday in April, on Massachusetts' unique Patriots Day holiday, but was postponed to mid-September as a result of the pandemic.
Then, by the end of May, it had been cancelled altogether - the first time in its 124-year history that the storied race in its traditional format was scrapped.
Instead, registered runners are being encouraged to complete the 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) distance independently - wherever they are on the globe - and share accounts of their preparation, motivation and execution.
