For all you runners out there - a site to calculate distance

[emw]

I don't know about the rest of you runners out there, but I like to know how far I'm going when I'm running, even when I travel or want to vary my routine a bit,

Until now, it's been difficult, generally involving driving around in my car or on my bike to track distances, or just relying on my times to determine how far I've gone.

But now, there's a better way! Drum roll please...

http://www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/

This site is great - it utilizes Google maps to allow you to map out your exact route and calculates distance. You can even see a satellite view if you want to get a good visual clue as to your markers.

Thought I'd pass it on, since I know there are quite a few athletes out on the forums that might appreciate this. Of course, I suppose it could be used for other purposes as well...

[ejb190]

Kind of neat. Took me a minute to realize you have to double click to set points. I entered a route that I have measured both by car and bike. I came within a tenth of a mile for a 6.23 mile route. Pretty good considering I was guessing a bit on the start/end point.

Great find!

[macbaseball]

That's awesome. It took a while to get a hang of it, but after that, it was easy. Great find...

[emw]

Glad you liked it. I've already verified a couple of my routes, and look forward to using it on some upcoming trips!

[xsedrinam]

That is really a great find! Wished I'd had that back in my marathoning days. Thanks, emw.
X

[runninmac]

Whoo hoo!! Ive been wanting a site like this! I hate measuring out courses on the road :D

[Vader]

That is real cool.
To bad I do most of my running around parks and such, so it doesn't do me too much good.

[fitinferno]

Awesome find! It seems like it'd be great for cycling too :)

I like how it works worldwide...it was very easy to find Tower Bridge on that map...and very fun at the same time.

[Koodauw]

Very Sweet, So now how far does everyone run on average?

I run about 5 miles, about what I figured.

[runninmac]

Sweet, So now how far does everyone run on average?

Typicaly in the summer 55miles a week for cross country training. Hopefully next summer ill be at 70mpw. (i should be nearly done growing)

[runninmac]

That is real cool.
To bad I do most of my running around parks and such, so it doesn't do me too much good.

Yeah I know what you mean I run on a semi-big trail sometimes and you can for the mostpart see where the trail is from the treeline on the hybrid map/ intersecting streets and landmarks. hope that helps

[QCassidy352]

A cute site, but kinda annoying to use. I have a little Nike speed and distance monitor that tells me exactly how far I've run when I need to know. :)

[quackattack]

I have been waiting for something like this! Thank you! Trying it out now...

[scubabeano]

Just signed up for the london marathon (drunken bet of course), so that's going to really help.
ta very much.

[Plymouthbreezer]

That's a very helpful site!

[gwuMACaddict]

have been using this for a few weeks, it works well enough... i have a gps on order, one you strap to your wrist- a few friends have them and love them- they'll calcualte average speed, distance, route, altitude, etc.

[jelloshotsrule]

how much did that cost gwu?

[gwuMACaddict]

they cost about $120, then software is extra sometimes... i borrowed a friends... i'll look for link

[gwuMACaddict]

here (http://www.garmin.com/products/forerunner201/)

is the one i use... they make a cheaper one and a more expensive one... guess the software is free... maybe my buddy purchased something different... no mac yet as far as i can tell, i use my work pc for it

[jelloshotsrule]

awesome, i'll check into it

my girlfriend is quite the runner and she always complains about running near my house cause there's no mile markered courses like near hers, so this would be one less excuse for her! hah

so you've had good experience with it? easy to use, good/accurate info, etc?

thanks!

[emw]

have been using this for a few weeks, it works well enough... i have a gps on order, one you strap to your wrist- a few friends have them and love them- they'll calcualte average speed, distance, route, altitude, etc.I've thought about going this route, but didn't want to spend the money. But I hear they work really well, as long as you don't run through forests or something, where the satellite link can get messed up.

Speaking of which, I've heard they have trouble on cloudy days, which I have trouble believing, since my navigation system in the car works on cloudy days, but I'd be interested in feedback.

[dops7107]

Thanks for this, just what I've been looking for (doing half-marathon in three weeks' time... :eek: )

Shame Google maps hasn't annotated the rest of the world (i.e. other than UK and USA) yet. Guess it is only a beta after all.

[emw]

so you've had good experience with it? easy to use, good/accurate info, etc?I've used it a few times in the past few days. Twice for routes I'd previously measured, and it was spot on, and once for a route I ran (after the fact) to see how far I went. Don't know for sure the accuracy on that one, but my time and the distance matched well.

I think she'd like it, especially since you can go to satellite view to pick up landmarks to use while running.

[gwuMACaddict]

it does get interupted by forrests ocasionaly, but works well enough for me- i don't need to know how far i'm going down to the nearest foot

[scubabeano]

That site is honestly the single most useful one i've found for ages. Now if it could only do the running for me...

[Abstract]

That is great. I can see my house in Canada!

They also got a bit of Sydney, but they sorta cut out the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in the Circular Quay area, along with Bondi Beach and Darling Harbour. Weird. Of all the things to leave out. They got everything BUT those places. It was probably done on purpose, no?

[XIII]

That is real cool.
To bad I do most of my running around parks and such, so it doesn't do me too much good.

Same :(. Cool find though.

[scubabeano]

you can still use it to calculate - just click exactly where you run, parks and all. It's genius!

[Piarco]

Fantastic site! Its great knowing precisely how far I'm running (well should be running :o) rather than using a rough estimate from my a-z! Mapped out alternative routes through the nearest park and it works a treat too.
Now all I have to do it get into the routine of running - IMHO the hardest part of attempting to get back into shape..... me and my damned weak will....

[emw]

Same :(. Cool find though.
As others have noted, you can use the satellite view to plot out the course through the parks - trails generally show up pretty well, as long as you're in an area that can be zoomed well.

I've used it for a trail I occasionally run, just for fun, and it worked fine.