You're in?

A considerable amount of sweat, time, and pain goes into training for the New York City marathon. Or so we hear from the safety of our couch. Roughly 140,000 people applied for 50,000 spots for this year's event. The odds of getting to compete are particularly harrowing for local runners as the marathon has turned into a global "Olympic-style" weekend.

Thus probably the most crucial time to have your website up-and-running was during the lunchtime drawing of lottery winners this past Wednesday. Unfortunately, the New York Road Runners site was down until about 6pm that evening, leaving the nonprofit's 65,000 members searching for a list of accepted applicants in excruciating suspense. Hopefuls had to check their bank accounts to see if they'd been charged the entry fee in order to find out. NYRR wasn't entirely unprepared, however. Crain's reports that site began selling  hats and t-shirts with the words "You're In," that morning.

But thanks to the SMARTPHONE REVOLUTION, you can now watch live feeds of the race, track up to 10 runners, view leader boards, find the best viewing spots and update marathon-related social media.

Runners who bring along an iPhone or Android can use the app to track their progress by GPS and "transmit your exact location to everyone who’s tracking you," so that friends and family can intercept their marathoners accurately no matter where they are on the five-borough track.