For organisersHow-to
How to show participants in your race live on a map
The short answer
Put your race on livedot: create it in the free RunFast app for running or Windline for cycling, or ask livedot to set it up with you. Participants join it and go live from their phone or their Garmin, and everyone who chose to be seen shows on your race's live map at livedot.me, with how far they've come, when they'll finish and the weather where they are. Share that one link. It's free, thanks to ProLend.
The participants in your race already carry everything you need: a phone, or a Garmin. On livedot, each one who chooses to be seen becomes a live dot on your course, on one map that anyone can open in a browser. This guide shows how to set it up, who appears on it and how to share it, for running and cycling races anywhere in the world.
How do I show participants live?
Put the race on livedot, ask participants to join it, and on the day they go live. Then share one link.
Put your race on livedot
Create the race in the free RunFast app (running) or Windline (cycling) with its course and start time, or tell livedot about it at livedot.me/organisers and a person sets it up with you. It gets its page at livedot.me.
Ask participants to join it
Share the race's livedot.me link before race day. Each participant joins the race in RunFast or Windline, switches on Findable by anyone to appear on the public map, and can set a goal time. Garmin users add the free livedot app too.
On the day, they go live
They tap Go live on their phone, or press Start on their Garmin near the course at the start time. Each one who chose to be seen appears on the race's live map.
Share the live map
Post the race's livedot.me link on your website, socials and WhatsApp groups. Anyone opens it in any browser, with no app or account, and can find a participant by name.
Who appears on the map?
Everyone in the race who goes live and chose Findable by anyone. That's the participant's choice: the app asks when they join the race.
- Findable by anyone: on the public race map, and found by name.
- Shared with their followers or club only: those people see them; the public map doesn't.
- Not live: not shown anywhere.
So when you share the race link before the day, ask participants to switch on Findable by anyone if they're happy to be seen. Who can see a live participant.
What do people see on the map?
Each participant who chose to be seen, where they are now, and the race as a whole.
- The field on the course, with the participants furthest along at the top.
- Find by name: a box to find one participant, and follow them with no account.
- One participant's card: how far they've come, their pace or speed, their finish time against their goal, and the weather where they are: the heat for runners, the wind for riders.
- Taps on the back: anyone following can send one, and the participant sees it arrive.
- Finishers stay on the race map for a day.
How do I share it?
One link: your race's page at livedot.me. Put it on your race website and in your pre-race email, post it on your socials and in your WhatsApp groups, and read it out at the start. Followers open it in any browser, on any phone or computer.
Want the live map on your own website, in your own styling? That comes with a bespoke branded page, $200 per event. Everything else here is free, thanks to ProLend.
What should go in our entry terms?
One line:
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
Who shows up on the race's live map?
Everyone in the race who goes live with Findable by anyone switched on. Participants who share only with their own followers or their club are seen by those people, not on the public map. Nobody shows unless they go live.
Do participants need a tracker?
No. They use their own phone with the free RunFast or Windline app, or their Garmin with the free livedot app. There's no hardware to hand out.
Can spectators find one participant?
Yes. The race map has a box to find a participant by name, if that participant allows it, and anyone can follow them from there, with no account.
How long do finishers stay on the map?
Finishers stay on the race map for a day, so late followers still see them come home.
What does it cost?
Nothing. It's free for organisers, participants and everyone following, thanks to ProLend. 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.
