ChiMarathon vs My Big Year
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
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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!
My Big Year
Track birds you haven't seen for your Big Year, Big Day, or Life List. Discover unseen species with map pins and sortable tables, get directions, and access field guides. Includes eBird import and export for serious birders.
- Track unseen birds for Year, Day, or Life Lists
- Map pins and sortable tables for bird locations
- Nearest and all reports for a species
- Directions, eBird checklists, and field-guide links
- eBird import and spreadsheet export
- Custom and nearby search for birds
- Dynamic hotspot maps
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My Big Year is your personal radar for birds you haven’t seen — on Big Years, Big Days, and Life Lists, across the places you actually bird. Built by a retired software developer, it was his tool for a Maine Big Year record (2021) and later helped him and his wife reach 708 species in the Lower 48 (2024). This release opens that workflow to birders across major regions — not just one state. List where you bird United States & Canada (states, provinces, counties / equivalents) ABA & ABA Continental AOU (37 countries & territories) Europe (50 countries) South America (16 countries) Create multiple lists at once. Mark a bird seen at the smallest circle and watch it ripple to higher lists you track. Find what’s next Unseen birds for Year, Day, or Life List Map pins + sortable tables Nearest / all reports for a species Directions, eBird checklists, field-guide links Mark Seen — off the right map and table See the bird Roughly 5,400 species images so you’re not chasing names alone. In the field Near Santa Fe? See nearby unseen birds. Need a Mountain Chickadee? Review recent reports, pick one, get directions and guides, then mark it seen. Early season: opportunistic ticks along your route. Late season: map clusters of remaining targets for smarter trips. Also included eBird import & spreadsheet-friendly export Custom and nearby search Dynamic hotspot maps & checklist history ABA Species by Code Sensitive Species guide Top 100 list links Built for serious listers who want eBird’s live data as a clear answer to one question: what haven’t I seen, and where is it right now?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ChiMarathon at Free against My Big Year's $9.99. ChiMarathon also leads on ratings volume (45 vs 1). My Big Year's advantage is rating (3.0 vs 2.5) and device support (3 vs 1). On update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
ChiMarathon is free to download; My Big Year costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
My Big Year holds the better App Store score, 3.0 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.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ChiMarathon | My Big Year |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 2.5 (45 ratings) | 3.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 32.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 45 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 112 MB | 370 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tata Consultancy Services | PVI Maine LLC |
Customer experience
ChiMarathon
My Big Year
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
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- 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
My Big Year
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ChiMarathon
No in-app purchases
My Big Year
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ChiMarathon free?
Is My Big Year free?
Which has better reviews, ChiMarathon or My Big Year?
Do ChiMarathon or My Big Year have ads?
Which is updated more often, ChiMarathon or My Big Year?
Other comparisons
