Fans follow NYC marathoners via smart phone app

Marathon spectators no longer have to wonder when the runner they're rooting for will show up - there's an app for that.

Some fans along the route of Sunday's ING New York City Marathon relied on their smart phones to track the location of their favorite runners. They had downloaded an app that tracks a runner's bib number.

Four hundred meters from the finish line, Luke Behrends, 28, of New York City pointed to his smart phone, which showed his friend Caitlin Daniels running a half a mile away. "We've been tracking her all day with the ING app," said Behrends, who was with 10 friends. "We've been riding all over the subway and caught her in Brooklyn, Queens and Harlem."

The group also used the app to follow Chilean miner Edison Peña, Jared Fogle of Subway fame and celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Nearby, Elaine Lacks of Brookhaven stood with family members tracking the progress of her daughter-in-law Monica Lacks of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

In the morning, Dan and Liz Brady of North Babylon stood with family and friends at the barricades on the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge, using a smart phone to track their son Andrew Gabrell, 29, of Astoria. Half of Gabrell's support team wore white T-shirts and hoodies printed with his name and "2512" - his bib number.

"We're real proud of Andrew; I cannot wait to see him," Liz Brady said, adding she was sure "I'm going to cry" when he comes into view. It was Gabrell's first marathon, his family said, and he was hoping to come in "under three hours."

He finished in 3:04:49.

Nearby was Katie White, 23, a waitress from Washington Heights, holding a sign reading: "I want to be you when I grow up." White said she started running about a year ago, and hopes to run in the marathon next year.

"If they can come out and run 26 miles in freezing weather, the least we can do is come and support them," White said. The temperature was 44 degrees.

The marathoners started in Staten Island, then ran through Brooklyn and Queens before entering Manhattan at the Queensboro Bridge. They then headed north on First Avenue up to the Bronx then back down to Manhattan before ending in Central Park. More than 45,000 runners started the 41st edition of the race, which stepped off with a temperature of 44 degrees.

After the finish line, Rebecca Heiberg, 28, a personal trainer from Northport, and Patricia Walsh, 26, a nursing student from Kings Park, emerged from Central Park, tired and cold but smiling. It was Heiberg's second marathon and Walsh's first. They finished in 4 hours and 32 minutes.

"We motivated each other and screamed at each other," Heiberg said, adding that spectators had been "awesome" and the borough of Brooklyn was especially fun.

When they entered Manhattan at 59th Street, they were greeted by friends cheering them on. "It was the best," Heiberg said. "It was something to look forward to and it kept you going."

Several hours earlier, Laura Potenza, 45, an actress from Forest Hills, and her son Jack, 11, joined about 200 other volunteers lining both sides of the block between 61st and 62nd streets.

"It's very exciting and it's a lot of fun," Potenza said, "and you feel like we're helping someone accomplish a difficult goal."

She said she felt the gratitude from runners as they grabbed cups of the sports drink she was handing out.

"I get thanked in about 10 different languages," she said. "The runners are very appreciative."

With Jennifer Barrios