I would not bother being there at the start. Let them settle in to their race routine and it'll be a complete zoo. From a hype standpoint, it's much much more fun and effective to have your buds at some point later on in the race when you're looking for a new wind. Lots of great spots where they should see you up until you get up until a little past Cleveland cirle where it starts to get hard to see folks in the crowd again. Not trying to say avoid the finishline, but you might get hung up logistically unless you're following them on side streets by bike.