2007 Boston Marathon Coverage

I write about running a lot here.

And since today is the Boston Marathon, I am following the race closely as it passes by my apartment.

It seems that the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) tried/is trying to do some event blogging. While I love the idea, for those avid runners or family members who can't make it to the race, don't get Versus, or live in the Boston area, where it is also airing on the CBS affiliate. I like it better when it's working.

The concept of live event blogging is popular. Think CES when Apple was unveiling the iPhone, Steve Jobs keynote was up to the minute. A commitment has to be made to have the right technology in place. It seems that the BAA inserted the idea as an afterthought.

The BAA has two individuals writing up their own expert commentary, news, and coverage: Barabara Huebner and Jim O'Brien. While Barabara is keeping up to the best of her ability, the site isn't, the actual Commentary page hasn't updated since 9:35am, so you can only read small snippets and if you missed something on the homepage, it's gone. And where's Jim? Haven't heard from him since before the start.

In the search of a better alternate, I found Running Times was offering live coverage. But keep receiving a timeout as the Server can't handle the load.

Meanwhile Versus and WBZ have two unique styles, expert and local. While I have watched some of Versus' coverage, WBZ offers a much funnier alternative, as the regular newscasters, who have no running expertise try to look good, focusing on the mediocre and obscure. And their websites both fall short. Versus doesn't even have it on the homepage. And WBZ is webcasting, which is could, although with their television coverage being technically challenged, how good will the live webcasts be?

In a sport that suffers from a lack of exposure, these elite and honored events need to capitalize on an audience that loves its niches and could use the internet audience.