Boston Marathon Footwear Analysis

A tool to collect and analyze what shoes runners wear in the Boston Marathon. This project helps identify trends in running shoe choices among marathon participants.

What This Tool Does

1. Collects runner data from the Boston Marathon results
2. Shows you photos of runners from MarathonFoto
3. Lets you identify what shoes each runner is wearing
4. Saves this information for later analysis

Before You Start

You'll need:

• A computer running Windows or Mac
• Internet connection
• About 10GB of free disk space
• Basic knowledge of using command prompt (Windows) or terminal (Mac)

Installation Guide

Step 1: Install Python

Windows:

1. Go to Python.org
2. Download the latest Python installer
3. Run the installer
4. ✓ Check "Add Python to PATH" during installation
5. Click "Install Now"

Mac:

1. Open Terminal
2. Install Homebrew if you don't have it:

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
   

3. Install Python:

   brew install python
   

Step 2: Install Chrome Browser and WebDriver

1. Install Google Chrome if you don't have it: Download Chrome

2. Download ChromeDriver:

   • Go to ChromeDriver Downloads
   • Download the version that matches your Chrome browser

3. Setup ChromeDriver:

   Windows:

   • Create folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\chromedriver-win64
   • Extract chromedriver.exe to this folder

   Mac:

   • Extract chromedriver to /usr/local/bin:

     sudo mv ~/Downloads/chromedriver /usr/local/bin
     

Step 3: Set Up the Project

1. Download this project:

   • Click the green "Code" button above
   • Choose "Download ZIP"
   • Extract the ZIP file somewhere on your computer

2. Open command prompt (Windows) or terminal (Mac)

3. Navigate to the project folder:

   cd path/to/extracted/folder
   

4. Install required software:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Step 4: Configure File Paths

The tool uses several CSV files and needs to know where to find them. You'll need to update these paths in the code:

1. Open src/data/ScrapingMarathonfoto.py in a text editor

2. Find and modify these paths to match your setup:

   # For shoe choices storage
   'D:\\BAAFootwear\\data\\Raw\\ShoeChoices.csv'
   
   # For race results data
   'D:\\BAAFootwear\\data\\Processed\\RaceTimeSeconds.csv'

3. Use double backslashes (\) on Windows or forward slashes (/) on Mac:

   • Windows example: D:\\BAAFootwear\\data\\Raw\\ShoeChoices.csv
   • Mac example: /Users/yourname/BAAFootwear/data/Raw/ShoeChoices.csv

4. Make sure these directories exist on your system before running the tool

Using the Tool

1. Start the data collection:

   python src/data/make_dataset.py
   

   This will gather runner information from the marathon results.

2. Start the shoe identification tool:

   python src/data/ScrapingMarathonfoto.py
   

3. For each runner:

   • A window will open showing marathon photos
   • Another window will show shoe options
   • Click the shoe that matches what the runner is wearing
   • The tool automatically moves to the next runner

Student Contributor Setup

If you're a student helping with shoe classification:

1. Create a GitHub account if you don't have one

2. Share your GitHub username with your John

3. John will:

   • Add you as a collaborator with restricted permissions
   • Set up branch protection rules allowing you to only modify shoeChoices.csv

4. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/jkuzmeski/BAAFootwear.git
   

5. When working:

   • Commit and push your changes:

     git add shoeChoices.csv
     git commit -m "Data labing MM-DD-YYYY"
     git push
     

Note: You will only be able to modify shoeChoices.csv. Other file changes will be rejected.

Help & Troubleshooting

Common issues:

1. "Python not found"

   • Reinstall Python and make sure to check "Add Python to PATH"

2. "ChromeDriver error"

   • Make sure Chrome browser is installed
   • Download the matching ChromeDriver version
   • Check if ChromeDriver is in the correct location

3. "Module not found"

   • Run pip install -r requirements.txt again