MetroPCS® Dallas Marathon™ Introduces Text Message Tracking for Participants

XACT to Broadcast Runner Progress  

November 26, 2012 (Dallas) – The MetroPCS Dallas Marathon will offer a new text message tracking service in 2012, provided by social media messaging service XACT. Registered marathon participants can specify a preferred medium, and their real-time results will then be broadcast through email, SMS, Facebook and/or Twitter.

“Family, friends and spectators always enjoy keeping up with a participant’s progress during a marathon,” said Marcus Grunewald, executive director of the Dallas Marathon. “We are happy to introduce this new service to our 300,000-plus spectators and 25,000 race participants.”

XACT, a Southfield, Michigan, company, is a third-party service provider that delivers instant updates as participants cross timing mats placed along the racecourse. Messages feature the race name, runner name, time at location, pace and projected finish time. 

Messages containing participants’ times will be delivered every ten kilometers during the race and at the finish line. Updates are available within 60 seconds of a runner crossing a timing mat.

Registration with XACT will be available at the Dallas Marathon website soon. For more information, visit dallasmarathon.com.

About the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon

The MetroPCS Dallas Marathon is a flat and fast race, featuring a scenic course that highlights the best areas of Dallas including the landmark Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, designed by Santiago Calatrava. The race is Texas’ oldest running marathon and serves as a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon. Race activities occur the second weekend of December and include a two-day Health and Fitness Expo, the Cigna Mayor’s Race 5K and Fun Run presented by Oncor, the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon, Half Marathon, 5-Person Relay, SMU Cox Corporate Relay Challenge presented by Behringer Harvard and Cooper Complete Elite High School Relay. The Dallas Marathon is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; the primary beneficiary of proceeds from race weekend is Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. For more information, visit dallasmarathon.com.

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