2015 TCS New York City Marathon hits new heights

The world’s largest marathon, with 49,617 finishers, witnessed more than 272,000 downloads of the official race app, powered by Tata Consultancy Services, but more significantly, the app generated a 700 percent increase in race day usage, from 7.5 million data points accessed in 2014 to 53 million in 2015.

The 2015 TCS New York City Marathon app had several new and enhanced features that drove interest and mass usage. From a pre-event personalized race time predictor, interactive Expo map and live leaderboards of pro athletes, to the most popular feature of tracking up to 10 runners on the race course and being able to plan where to see or meet runners, complete with MTA route information.

TCS and NYRR made great strides toward its collective goal of making the TCS New York City Marathon the most technically advanced and socially engaged marathon in the world. Beyond the official app, race week activities (from Monday, October 26 to Monday, November 2) generated more than 588 million impressions on Twitter and Instagram related to the #tcsnycmarathon hashtag – 342 million on race day alone – while Facebook drove almost 26 million impressions. Moreover, the #TCSNYCMarathon Journey Video, built for marathoners, fans and volunteers to create recaps of marathon experience, saw more than 5,000 people sign up to create videos, with nearly 1,500 videos currently made.

“TCS has diligently worked with New York Road Runners over the past two years to re-imagine and enhance the experience of the TCS New York City Marathon for runners, fans and supporters,” said N Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD, TCS. “Our goal is to encourage more people to pursue such healthy lifestyles, in New York City and beyond. It was truly an honor to run in the race for the second straight year with runners from around the world, and witness the passion and joy on so many people’s faces.”

TCS Runfographics was another new, socially driven campaign surrounding this year’s race, designed to drive buzz and interest in running beyond just athletes or core enthusiasts. Fun images and animations brought to life the global nature of the race and New York City’s iconic characteristics – from the fastest countries, US states or zodiac signs over the past 40 years, to comparisons of distances covered in other sports and race calories burned relative to the number of NYC pizza slices you could eat.
                                                                                                                                                     

“Together with Tata Consultancy Services, NYRR congratulates the runners and offers sincere thanks to volunteers, fans, city partners, and all who came together to be a part of Marathon Sunday, one of the city’s most iconic and celebrated days,” said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of New York Road Runners. “With the TCS New York City Marathon as an anchor, the foundation of our shared partnership with TCS is the commitment to create opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to get moving. We look forward to continued collaboration to improve the health and wellness of communities across the five boroughs and around the world.”

As NYRR’s Official Youth and Community Service Partner, Tata Consultancy Services supports a variety of year-round NYRR youth running programs, events and resources. This was recently highlighted through the “NYRR Youth Jamboree Presented by TCS” that kicked off the TCS New York City Marathon race week, the “TCS Run with Champions” at the iconic race finish line in Central Park, and the inaugural “NYRR Youth Invitational” during the morning of the official TCS New York City Marathon race day.

The 2015 TCS New York City Marathon featured 49,617 finishers, representing all U.S states and 125 countries. It also had the highest ever level of female participants at 20,703. Moreover, almost 500 TCS colleagues and clients ran as “Team TCS” – led by the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services.