The first-ever virtual marathon is scheduled to take place at the beginning of next month in Boston, Massachusetts, reports AP/UNB.
Like other events, the runners will run on track but in different places.
Rather than lining up in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and making the long trek to Boston, athletes will run this year's marathon solo because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The real runners will do the hard work, and an interactive mobile app will help augment their not-quite-authentic experience. A weeklong TV special and the new mobile app will showcase their stories as they go the distance on their own.
Amazon and WBZ-TV are teaming up on a "Boston Marathon Live" broadcast that will be aired nightly starting September 07, through September 13.
The marathon normally is run on a Monday in April, on Massachusetts' unique Patriots Day holiday, but was postponed to mid-September because of the pandemic.
Then, at the end of May, it was cancelled altogether — the first time in its 124-year history that the storied race in its traditional format was scrapped.
Instead, registered runners are being encouraged to complete the 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) distance by themselves — wherever they are in the world — and share accounts of their preparation, motivation and execution.