ChiMarathon vs First Ascent Spray Wall
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ChiMarathon
Prepare for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon with this comprehensive resource. Track runners live, view athlete profiles, and access real-time weather and course maps. Spectators can send digital cheers to be displayed on the course.
- Live runner tracking
- Athlete profiles
- Live broadcast streaming
- Real-time weather
- Interactive course map
- Digital cheer submission
Read full descriptionHide full description
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon App, Powered by Tata Consultancy Services is the perfect resource to prepare for the 2026 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Whether you’re running or spectating, the free mobile app includes everything you’ll need to be prepared for a great race week experience. The app features unlimited live race day runner tracking, professional athlete profiles, live broadcast streaming, real-time weather, an interactive course map, participant bib share and more!
First Ascent Spray Wall
This app serves as a digital logbook for climbing problems on a spray wall. Users can create, track, and manage their climbing routes and progress. It's designed for climbers to easily record their ascents and share their challenges.
- Create climbing problems
- Log ascents
- Track progress
- Problem database
- Route management
Read full descriptionHide full description
Spray wall problem database for First Ascent Humboldt Park.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: First Ascent Spray Wall at 100% against ChiMarathon's 33%. First Ascent Spray Wall also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.5) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). ChiMarathon's advantage is ratings volume (45 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
First Ascent Spray Wall holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ChiMarathon has 45 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of ChiMarathon's written reviews are positive against 100% of First Ascent Spray Wall's.
ChiMarathon ships an update every 2 weeks, First Ascent Spray Wall every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ChiMarathon | First Ascent Spray Wall |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.5 (45 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 32.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 45 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 112 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tata Consultancy Services | William Castner |
Customer experience
ChiMarathon
First Ascent Spray Wall
Bugs and requests
ChiMarathon
Reported bugs
59 issues- Mile markers inconsistent
- Map shows water stations for runners
- Units displayed incorrectly (miles vs km)
- App doesn't update times
- Links in map don't work
Show 54 moreShow fewer
- Won't connect to server
- X-axis incorrect units (miles vs km)
- Y-axis decreasing (unhelpful visualization)
- Race day timer shows race is a day away
- Cannot track racer, times out
- Tracking feature not trustworthy
- No way to switch to miles
- Incredibly glitchy
- No mile markers this year
- Pace graph based on 100 seconds
- Needs to track distance by miles
- Default to kilometers with no option to change
- Map not updated on race day
- Worthless app
- No buttons work
- Cannot enter bib number
- Live data shows server error
- No way for runners to claim profile
- Mixes up miles and kilometers
- Pace graph based on minutes/100 seconds
- App defaults in metrics
- No ability to change pace to min/mile
- Leaderboard defaults to male runners
- App stalled, tracking didn't work
- Tracking search bar doesn't work
- App missed me at starting line and 15k mark
- App reported time over an hour slower
- Time still wrong on app after 2 days
- Tracking isn't real-time, only check-in points
- App insists on zooming back to user location
- Tracking experience disappointing
- Cannot connect to server
- Rubbish app
- Worst site for tracking a runner
- App could never connect to server
- Difficult to track multiple friends due to lack of splits
- App splits calculated in kilometers
- Doing calculations for miles/kilometers is not a good experience
- Can't track runners on map
- Useless app
- Only gives times at 10k, 20k, 30k and finish
- Impossible to track individual runner
- Missed our runner
- Doesn't work
- App freezing
- Cannot track anyone
- Cannot connect to server
- Map doesn't work
- Program stalled
- Tracking didn't work
- Search bar doesn't work
- App missed runner at start and 15k
- App reported time over an hour slower
- Time still wrong on app after 2 days
Requested features
31 requests- Geared towards spectators for map tracking
- Display mile markers clearly
- Option to switch between miles and kilometers
- Update app design to be more modern
- Real-time updates and alerts for runners
Show 26 moreShow fewer
- Add mile markers
- Option to convert kilometers to miles
- Add spectator viewing route feature
- Preload anticipated pace for recommended viewing points
- Allow users to switch between miles and kilometers
- Add option to change pace to minutes per mile
- Allow users to change pace to minutes per mile
- Add cheer cards feature
- Improve customer support
- Add automatic updates like Boston's app
- Update map for current year's event
- Fix tracking for runners
- Add a toggle or default to miles
- Provide a single click tracking link
- Add splits every 5 miles
- Streamline measurements (miles and kilometers)
- Allow viewing splits in miles or kilometers
- Add spectator 'viewing route' feature
- Add ability to send real-time messages to runners
- Add ability for runners to access messages easily
- Fix search bar for runner information
- Add end of race picture at finish line
- Add feature to track self for PR
- Add option to default to female runners on leaderboards
- Improve GPS tracking data
- Make tracking real-time
First Ascent Spray Wall
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ChiMarathon
No in-app purchases
First Ascent Spray Wall
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ChiMarathon free?
Is First Ascent Spray Wall free?
Which has better reviews, ChiMarathon or First Ascent Spray Wall?
Do ChiMarathon or First Ascent Spray Wall have ads?
Which is updated more often, ChiMarathon or First Ascent Spray Wall?
Other comparisons
