For organisersGuide
How to get live tracking for your running race
The short answer
Your runners go live from the free RunFast app on their phone, or straight from their Garmin with the free livedot app, and everyone follows the race on its page at livedot.me, in any browser, with no app or account. It's free for organisers too, thanks to ProLend: create your race in RunFast, or tell livedot about it at livedot.me/organisers and a person sets it up with you. Want your own branded page? Bespoke pages are $200 per event.
Your runners carry the tracker already: their phone, with the free RunFast app, or their Garmin, with the free livedot app. Each one who chooses to be seen is a live dot on your course, with their pace, their finish time and the heat where they are, and their family and fans follow from anywhere at livedot.me. This guide is for organisers of road races, marathons, trail runs and ultras, anywhere in the world.
How do I get live tracking for my running event?
Tell livedot about it, your runners join in RunFast, and on the day they go live. There are three steps.
- Set up your race, free. Create it in the free RunFast app and claim your livedot name, or fill in the form on livedot.me/organisers and a person at livedot sets it up with you: its page at livedot.me, your course and the date.
- Your runners join the race. They join it in the free RunFast app, choose who can see them and can set a goal time. Runners with a Garmin also add the free livedot app from the Connect IQ Store and link it once.
- On the day, they go live. They tap Go live on their phone, or just press Start on their Garmin near the course at the start time. Everyone following sees them on your race's page, and tracking stops by itself at the finish.
You share one link, your race's page, with your runners and their supporters.
What do runners need?
A phone with the free RunFast app, or a Garmin watch with the free livedot app. Nothing else.
- On a phone: RunFast for Android today, from runfast.tech/android; the iPhone app is with the App Store for review. Runners pocket the phone and run. How runners go live on race day.
- On a Garmin: the free livedot app from the Connect IQ Store, linked once with a code from their RunFast account. On a race they've joined, they press Start near the course at the start time and they're live, with no taps; the phone stays in a pocket with Garmin Connect running. Set up livedot on a Garmin.
- No signal? Nothing is lost. RunFast keeps every position and sends them when the signal is back, so a trail or a mountain pass fills in afterwards. Live tracking with no signal.
What do followers see?
Each runner on your course, with their pace, when they'll finish and the heat where they are, in any browser.
- The whole field on one map, with the runners furthest along, and a box to find one runner by name if that runner allows it.
- One runner's card: how far they've come, their pace now, their finish time against their goal and any cut-off, and the heat where they are.
- Taps on the back. Anyone following can send one, and the runner sees each one arrive.
Free, or a bespoke page?
Live tracking is free for every organiser. 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 |
| Runners live on the map, from RunFast 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 a person at livedot with you | A person at livedot, with you |
| For followers | Free | Free |
How does it compare with other live tracking?
Each kind of tracking does a different job. This is what each one is, so you can choose.
| What it is | Best for | |
|---|---|---|
| RunFast + livedot | Runners' own phones or Garmins, on your race's page at livedot.me, with the heat at their pace | Road races, trail runs and ultras where runners carry a phone or a Garmin |
| Rented GPS trackers | A tracker unit for each runner, handed out and collected | Remote ultras where runners carry no phone |
| Timing-mat splits | Official times as runners cross mats at fixed points | Official results, with positions only at the mats |
| RACEMAP | Live tracking bought by the organiser for the whole field, with an embeddable map | Organisers who buy tracking for every entrant |
| Strava Beacon, Garmin LiveTrack | One runner shares their location with the people they choose | A single runner, with no race map or field |
Many races use two: timing mats for the official results, and live tracking for everyone following between them.
How do I keep it private and fair?
Runners go live only when they choose, and they choose who sees them. Nobody shows on the map unless they go live, and no email address or phone number is ever shown. Who can see a live runner.
Add one line to your entry terms:
Entrants may choose to share their live position during the event through livedot (the RunFast or Windline app, or the livedot Garmin app). It's off unless they switch it on, and they choose who sees it.
Questions
How do I get live tracking for my running event?
Create your race in the free RunFast app, or tell livedot about it at livedot.me/organisers and a person sets it up with you, free: its page at livedot.me, your course and the date. Your runners join the race in the free RunFast app, or add the free livedot app to their Garmin, and go live on the day. Everyone follows in any browser.
What does it cost?
Nothing. livedot, RunFast and Windline are free for organisers, entrants and everyone following, thanks to ProLend: your event's live page, live tracking, the course and the forecast. The only paid option is a bespoke branded page in your own styling, with the live map on your own website: $200 per event, if you want one.
What's a bespoke page?
Your race's live page in your own styling: your logo, colours, hero picture, sponsors and wording, plus the live map on your own website. It's an optional extra, $200 per event; everything else is free.
Do runners need a GPS tracker?
No. They use their own phone with the free RunFast app, or their Garmin watch with the free livedot app. There's no hardware to hire, hand out or collect.
What happens with no signal on a trail or in the mountains?
Nothing is lost. With no signal, RunFast keeps every position on the phone and sends them all once the signal is back, so the line fills in. Followers see when the runner was last seen.
Is this official timing?
No. It shows where each runner is, their pace and the heat where they are. Keep your timing provider for official results; live tracking is for the people following.
Can the live map go on our race website?
Yes, with a bespoke branded page, $200 per event. We set it up with you.
