Conflicted rugby fans running the ASB Auckland Marathon tomorrow morning have been given a last-minute chance to watch the Rugby World Cup final - if they can keep up with runners live-streaming the game from iPads strapped to their backs.
Les Mills employees Serge Brazhnikov and Emily Dixon will bewearing custom-made vests holding an iPad on each of their backs and live streaming the game through the Sky Go app.
The annual event, which involves thousands of runners traversing from Devonport to central Auckland, kicks off at 6am tomorrow, about halfway through the All Blacks vs Australia game.
Large screens will show the game when it starts at 5am, but marathon runners will miss the second half of the match as they begin their 42.195km run.
Marathon organisers were unable to change the date of the marathon due to the road closure permits required for the event, and enrolment numbers are down on previous years with 12,475 runners registered compared with about 16,000 last year.
Vibeke Breuer of Les Mills said the gym - where some of the All Blacks train - was approached by local public relations agency Eleven 11 to team up and live-stream the game mid-run.
"We are obviously big supporters of the All Blacks, they are members of the gym and they train in our facilities quite often so we are always supporting them where we can," she said. "It's something that is quite out of the box but we like to do things like that."
Mr Brazhnikov, a personal trainer at the gym, said tomorrow's event would be his first marathon.
On his last training half marathon he recorded an average time of 4m 38sec per kilometre.
"There are around 6000 people in the race so hopefully there will be some people behind me who can watch the game off my back."
Entrants in the half-marathon event will be able to watch the full game before the starting gun for their event goes at 6.50am. Runners completing the shorter distance races will be able to enjoy the match elsewhere, before joining the crowds at their starting points.
Meanwhile, Jane Weekes is tackling the half marathon tomorrow to "pay forward" the support her family received in the immediate aftermath of her triplets' death in a 2012 Qatar mall fire.
Mrs Weekes will be running as part of a team fundraising for the Auckland City Mission.
Marathon advice
• To follow the big game: Listen to live commentary on Radio Sport or Newstalk ZB from kick-off at 5am.
• Road closures: The two southbound clip-on lanes of the Harbour Bridge will be shut between 4am and 11am tomorrow, which will affect other roads nearby. For more detailed information, go to: at.govt.nz/about-us/news-events/events-causing-delays/
