The best ways to track someone live in a running race (2026)

There are two kinds of live tracking at a running race. One is bought by the organiser for the whole field: RACEMAP and RaceJoy are two of the best known, and they're good at it. The other is the runner's own: they go live from their phone, in any race, and send the link to the people who'll be watching. livedot does the second, free, and it also puts a whole field on one map for organisers who want that. This page compares them fairly, from each provider's own pages, checked in October 2026.

Which should I use?

Start with who's following, and whether the race offers tracking.

You can use more than one. A runner can be on the race's RaceJoy and on livedot at the same time; each uses battery, so carry a power bank on a long race.

How do they compare?

From each provider's own pages, checked in October 2026. "Not stated" means their pages don't say; it may or may not do it.

What does RACEMAP do well?

It's a full toolkit for organisers, timers and broadcasters, and it scales to big fields. RACEMAP's own pages describe:

• A tracking map for the whole event, with elevation and race-flow charts, speed and gaps, optimised for phones and embeddable on the organiser's own site. RACEMAP cites a Munich Marathon map with more than 3,000 participants.
• Replay: a finished event can be replayed on the same map, and the map picks up where you stopped.
• GPS trackers to rent or buy, from €110 + VAT for five over a weekend, with tracker management, for events where phones won't do.
• The free RACEMAP app, which turns a runner's phone into a tracker, updating every 5 to 10 seconds, and lets spectators watch live or the recap.
• Predictive tracking from timing-mat reads, so a race can show everyone with no device at all.
• Safemap for long events, with SOS, crash and lost-track alerts, plus live leaderboards and data APIs for TV graphics.
• No account for runners or spectators: only the host needs one.

The trade, by its pricing page: someone has to host and pay for the event, per 7-day cycle, with devices and map loads counted. Anyone with a RACEMAP account can host a map; the host pays per 7-day cycle.

What does RaceJoy do well?

It's built around the runner's supporters. RaceJoy's pages describe:

• Progress alerts, typically every mile for running events, with the runner's location, pace, elapsed time and estimated finish, without timing equipment.
• Cheers: pre-recorded audio cheers or a typed Text-to-Cheer, played to the runner as audio, up to 50 per runner per day.
• The race's own audio: cheers set by place or distance, an official course map, off-course alerts, and a race-day monitoring dashboard for the organiser.
• Free for runners and families, on Apple and Android phones.

The trades, by its own pages: "RaceJoy is a mobile app and not available from a web browser", so every follower installs it. It's sold only through certified providers, from a minimum list price of $750, and races without a RaceJoy Ready badge "may not be offering RaceJoy's tracking and cheers".

What about Garmin LiveTrack and Strava Beacon?

They share a dot from a training run as easily as a race, and they're free in their basic form. Garmin's LiveTrack shows followers your location, pace and distance, with heart rate and cadence. Strava Beacon sends up to three safety contacts a link. Neither, by its own pages, shows the whole field, a way to find you by name or the weather where you are. The detail is in Garmin LiveTrack alternative for race day, Strava Beacon alternative for races and live tracking for races compared.

What about the race's own tracker?

Many big races have an official tracker with splits from timing mats. Use it: it has the official times. It shows when someone crossed each mat, and estimates where they are between them. Live GPS shows where they actually are. The two work well together. See timing mats or live GPS.

What does livedot do differently?

It belongs to the runner, not the race. A runner on RunFast goes live from the app in any race, anywhere in the world, with no organiser purchase, and everyone else opens a link in any browser, with no app and no account.

• Their road in 3D, on satellite, with the course drawn in and the line run so far.
• Their numbers: distance done and to go, pace now, the next landmark, their finish time and the cut-off.
• The weather where they are: the course coloured by how hard the heat makes each stretch at their pace.
• Their goal, as a ghost: where someone at exactly their goal time would be, and "4 min ahead of goal".
• Taps on the back from any browser, which buzz on their phone, once a minute.
• One link for every race, such as livedot.me/megan, and search by name on livedot.me for runners who switch on Findable by anyone.
• In ChatGPT and Claude: add livedot and ask where they are. See how to track a runner live in ChatGPT.

And its limits, plainly. The runner needs the RunFast app on their phone: it's on Android today, from runfast.tech/android, and the iPhone app is with the App Store for review. Coming soon: the free livedot app for Garmin (Forerunner, Fenix) sends a runner's live position from the watch. It needs phone signal to send, though nothing is lost without it: the line fills in when the signal's back. It isn't official race timing. And a runner is on a race map only if they choose to be.

Can organisers put the whole field on one map?

Yes, and it's free. An organiser fills in the Get your event live form, and every entrant who goes live from RunFast and chooses to be seen is on the race map, with a Furthest along list and name search. There's no fee for the organiser, the runners or anyone following, and no hardware to hand out. RACEMAP's trackers and Safemap go further for safety on remote courses, so some events will want both. See live tracking for race organisers.

How do I start?

If you're following someone:

1. Ask them for their link before the start, or search their name on livedot.me on the day.
2. Open it in any browser. Leave the page open: it changes when they go live.
3. Send a tap on the back when they need it.

The full steps are in how to track a runner in a marathon, how to track someone in a race and how to find someone in a race by name.

If you're the runner: get RunFast for Android, add your race, switch on live tracking, and send your link. See how to go live on race day.

Sources

Checked in October 2026, from each provider's own pages:

• RACEMAP: home, pricing, tracking apps, GPS trackers, getting started, event visualisation, embedding, a map that remembers.
• RaceJoy: home, features, spectators, how to track someone, participant FAQ, race directors.
• Garmin and Strava: as listed in live tracking for races compared.

Providers change their features and prices, so check their pages for the latest. If something here is out of date, tell us through Windline's contact page, which livedot shares.