BOSTON -- From text messages to tweets to electronic bibs, the 2009 Boston Marathon featured a host of technological innovations that kept runners in touch with their family and friends as they progressed along the course.

NewsCenter 5’s Rhondella Richardson reported that dozens of runners were using cellular phones to post updates to the Web service Twitter while they were running this year. Countless others fired off 160-character SMS text messages for more direct communications with family members watching at home or waiting on the sidelines.

Spectator Bob Stahl, who was watching for his niece, Emily, to come racing down the road, said that tracking devices in her bib allowed him to get automated updates on her progress sent to his phone.

“We were able to put our … cell phone numbers under her bib number, and then as she crosses certain boundaries, we get text messages saying, ‘Emily just crossed. Here’s her pace, here’s her time.’”

Spectators also used Twitter to coordinate meet-ups at the finish line and marathon celebrations in downtown Boston.

Even the Boston police stepped up their technological communications for the 113th marathon. Following on the success of the department’s effort to update the public through Twitter during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, police officers used the Web service to spread information about road closures and other public safety concerns during the marathon.

The runners' bibs, which featured an individual barcode tied to each participant, also gave health officials a way to keep tabs on medical emergencies. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency served as a headquarters for public health workers, who tracked the number of people requiring assistance in real time throughout the day.