For organisersGuide
Free live tracking for a race: how it works
The short answer
Yes. livedot is free for organisers, runners, riders and everyone following, thanks to ProLend. Create your race in the free RunFast or Windline app (or a runner or rider adds it), it gets its own page at livedot.me, and everyone who joins it and goes live, from a phone or a Garmin, shows on its map for anyone to follow in any browser, with the course and the forecast. The only paid option is a bespoke page in your own styling, $200 per event.
Live tracking for a race doesn't have to cost anything. On livedot.me, any running or cycling race can be followed live for free: the people in it carry the tracker already, their phone or their Garmin, and their family and fans follow in any browser. This guide explains what's free, how a race's free page starts, and what an organiser's own page adds.
How does free race tracking work?
The race gets one free page at livedot.me, and everyone in it who goes live is on its map.
- Someone adds the race. A runner in the free RunFast app, a rider in the free Windline app, or the organiser on their free organiser or club page. The app asks "Is it one of these?" first, so each race has one page that everyone joins.
- People join it. Each one taps I'm in, chooses who can see them and can set a goal time. With a Garmin, they add the free livedot app and link it once.
- On the day, they go live. From the app, or by pressing Start on their Garmin near the course at the start time. Everyone who goes live is on the race's map at livedot.me, and anyone can follow them by name, if they allow it.
What's free?
Everything an organiser, runner, rider or follower needs.
- The apps: RunFast for running, Windline for cycling, and the livedot app for Garmin.
- Your event's page at livedot.me, with its live map, the course and the forecast at race pace, and your livedot name for all your events.
- Following, in any browser, with no app and no account, and taps on the back.
- The weather for each person: the heat at their pace for runners, the wind on every stretch for riders.
livedot, RunFast and Windline are free for organisers, runners, riders, clubs and everyone following, thanks to ProLend.
What does a bespoke page add?
Everything above is free, for organisers too. A bespoke page is an optional extra, in your own styling.
| Free | Bespoke, $200 per event | |
|---|---|---|
| Your event's live page at livedot.me | Yes | Yes, in your styling: logo, colours, hero picture |
| People live on the map, from a phone or a Garmin | Yes | Yes |
| The course on the map | Yes | Yes, loaded and checked with you |
| The forecast at race pace | Yes | Yes |
| Your sponsors and your wording | No | Yes |
| A live map on your own website | No | Yes |
| Set up by | You or the community, or a person at livedot with you | A person at livedot, with you |
Organising a running race? See how to get live tracking for your running race. A cycling race? See how to get live tracking for your cycling race.
Questions
Is live tracking for a race really free?
Yes. Organisers, runners, riders and followers pay nothing: RunFast, Windline and the livedot Garmin app are free, and anyone follows in any browser, thanks to ProLend. The only paid option is a bespoke branded page in an organiser's own styling, with the live map on their own website: $200 per event, if they want one.
Who starts a race's free page?
Whoever adds the race first: a runner in RunFast, a rider in Windline, or the organiser on their own free organiser or club page. Before anyone adds a new race, the app asks "Is it one of these?", so each race has one page that everyone joins.
Who adds the course?
The person who adds the race, from a GPX file or a route link. Until livedot has checked it, the race page shows it as added by a participant. With a bespoke page, livedot loads your official course and checks it with you.
Do runners and riders need to pay?
No. RunFast, Windline and the livedot Garmin app are free. Each person joins the race, chooses who sees them and goes live on the day.
What does a bespoke page add?
Your event's live page in your own styling: your logo, colours, hero picture, sponsors and wording, plus the live map on your own website, set up with you by a person at livedot. It's optional, $200 per event; everything else is free.
