For organisersGuide
Live tracking for race organisers: your field on one map
The short answer
Tell livedot about your event on livedot.me/organisers, and a person sets up your page and race with you. Entrants use the free app for their sport (Windline for cycling, RunFast for running), choose who sees them and go live on the day. Fans follow in any browser. It's free for everyone, thanks to ProLend.
Live tracking used to mean renting GPS units or relying on splits from timing mats. With livedot, your entrants carry the tracker already: their phone. Each one is a live dot on your course, with the weather where they are, and their family and fans follow from anywhere. This guide is for race directors and organisers of cycling and running events, anywhere in the world.
What does live tracking give my event?
Every entrant who chooses to be seen, live on one map, with the weather where each one is, and a page for your event that people can find.
- Every entrant on one map. Each one is a live dot on your course, with how far they've come and when they'll finish. Anyone can find an entrant by name, if that entrant allows it.
- The weather where each one is. For riders, the course is coloured by the wind on every stretch, timed to when they get there. For runners, by the heat at their pace. From Apple Weather, worldwide.
- Followers anywhere. Family and fans open your race map, your page or an entrant's own link in any browser. No app, no account.
- Goals, and taps on the back. An entrant's goal time rides or runs beside them as a ghost, and anyone following can send a tap on the back that the entrant feels on their phone.
- Your page at livedot.me/yourname. What's live, what's next and what's been, for cycling and running on one page, all year round.
How does it work?
You tell us about the event, entrants use the app for their sport, and on the day they go live. There are three steps.
- Tell us about your event. Fill in the Get your event live form. A person at livedot replies by email, with a reference, and sets up your page and your race with you: the course, the date and your address at livedot.me.
- Your entrants get the app. Riders use Windline and runners use RunFast, both free. Each one joins your race in the app, chooses who can see them, and can set a goal time.
- On the day, they go live. They start live tracking on their phone and ride or run. Everyone following sees them on your race map and your page, and tracking stops by itself at the finish.
You share one link with your entrants and your supporters.
What will followers see?
The whole field on your race map, and each entrant's own page with their numbers and the weather where they are.
- The race map: everyone on the course at once, from the front to the back of the field, with the course drawn in. Riders or runners close together stack into one, with a count. A Furthest along list sits beside the map, with a box to find an entrant by name.
- An entrant's page: where they are, their speed or pace, their finish time, the wind or heat where they are, and their goal.
- After they finish: finishers stay on the map for 6 hours, with their time.
How a follower uses it, step by step, is in how to track someone in a race.
What is the organiser page at livedot.me?
It's your event's home at livedot.me/yourname: one address for your club, series or event, for cycling and running on one page.
- Live now: a light map with the course and every live entrant who chose to be seen, refreshed every 10 seconds. Watch live opens the app's own live page.
- Upcoming: your next events, with dates and distances.
- Past: the last 12 months.
- Get the app: Windline or RunFast, for your entrants.
If you organise both cycling and running events, the page has a tab for each. See an example, built from the two demo races.
How is this different from timing mats or hired trackers?
It measures something different. Timing mats give you official results at fixed points; hired GPS units track whoever carries one; entrants' phones show each entrant's real position, at no cost.
| Timing-mat splits | Hired GPS trackers | Entrants' phones (livedot) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it gives you | Official times at fixed points | A live position per unit | A live position per entrant who goes live |
| Between points | An estimate from pace | A real position | A real position, placed on the course |
| Hardware | Mats and chips | Units to hand out and collect | None: the entrant's own phone |
| Who's on the map | Everyone with a chip | Everyone with a unit | Entrants who chose to be seen |
| The weather where they are | Depends on the provider | Depends on the provider | The wind for riders, the heat for runners, on every stretch |
They work well together. Keep your timing provider for results, and use live tracking for the people following.
Who decides whether an entrant is on the map?
The entrant does. Live tracking is theirs to switch on and theirs to stop, and each one chooses who sees them.
- People they approve, and anyone they send their link to, follow them on their own page.
- Their club's members see them on the club's race map, if they share with their club.
- Everyone, on your race map, only if they switch on Findable by anyone, which is off by default.
So if you want a full race map, tell your entrants: switch on Findable by anyone for the race. livedot never shows an email address or a phone number. Raw positions are deleted after 7 days; a race's line and the names on taps after 30. See live tracking privacy.
What should I tell my entrants?
Three things, a week or so before the event: get the app for their sport, join your race in it, and choose who can see them, with Findable by anyone on if they're happy to be on the race map. On the day, they go live at the start.
Which phones can entrants use?
Entrants go live from the Windline app for cycling or the RunFast app for running. Both are on Android today, from windline.tech/android and runfast.tech/android, and both iPhone apps are with the App Store for review. Followers can use any phone or computer.
Which events can go live?
Cycling races, sportives, gravel events and stage races on Windline; road races, trail races and ultras on RunFast. Organising another sport? Tell us about it in the form.
Does it work anywhere in the world?
Yes. The weather comes from Apple Weather, worldwide, and distances show in kilometres or miles. Where a phone loses signal, it keeps every position and sends them when the signal is back, and followers see when the entrant was last seen.
What does it cost?
Nothing. There's no fee for you, your entrants or anyone following: livedot, Windline and RunFast are free for everyone, thanks to ProLend.
What about clubs?
A club can have the same: its members on one map on race day, and a page at livedot.me. See live tracking for clubs. Entrants can also be found by name across every race: see how to find someone in a race by name.
Ready when you are
Tell us about your event, or your club's or series' events, and we'll reply by email and set it up with you.
Or watch a demo first: the Coast Classic or Comrades
Questions
What does live tracking cost for an event?
Nothing, for you, your entrants or anyone following. livedot, Windline and RunFast are free for everyone, thanks to ProLend.
Do entrants need a GPS tracker?
No. Entrants use their own phone, with the free app for their sport: Windline for cycling, RunFast for running. There's no hardware to hire, hand out or collect.
Is this official timing?
No. It shows where each entrant is and the weather where they are, from their own phone. Keep your timing provider for official results; live tracking is for the people following.
Do followers need an app or an account?
No. They open your race map, your page at livedot.me or an entrant's own link in any browser, on any phone or computer.
Can I see what it looks like first?
Yes. livedot.me/example is a full organiser page built from the two demo races, and the Coast Classic and Comrades demos run all day, every day.
