Everything you need to know to create your standout race, powered by RunGo

RunGo offers the most powerful and customizable digital platform for races, for real world racing, open course racing, and remote course racing.

Summary

1. Learn how to optimize your route

2. See examples below to get inspired how RunGo can power your race experience

3. Start creating a route anytime at routes.rungoapp.com/route/new

4. Request to have your route verified ✅ at rungoapp.com/verify

How can your event stand out?

What if your participant experience could be the most engaging, with pre-recorded audio messages about things you’re passing, stories about the course, elite athlete motivations, or partner or sponsor activations?

What if your participants could effortlessly navigate your race course or a course variant solo for augmented “open course racing”?

What if all race times, whether on-course, remote, virtual, or treadmill, could be managed with one leaderboard, complete with GPS-verified times, automatic submission without web forms, and integrations with any race timing or registration platform?

You can DIY at no cost

You can build your entire virtual race on RunGo, do-it-yourself, at no cost: courses with custom, turn-by-turn voice navigation, custom messages, and groups.

You may like to upgrade as a race organizer to RunGo Premium to access more route creation features: more route import tools, graphic overlay, more POI types, more custom message types, etc.

It all starts with a route

It all starts with a route, and even if your race is entirely virtual, this is still the pillar for all your participants’ experiences.

What kind of race do I want: real race, hybrid, or 100% virtual?

Will you be ok having runners on the actual course? If yes, RunGo apps can guide them by voice so they stay on course and hear all about it. This is open course racing.

If not, you may require your participants to run the route in RunGo’s new Virtual Mode: they will still get the voice-guided tour from the RunGo apps as they run, but they can run anywhere in the world outdoors, or indoors on a treadmill.

 On iPhone:

Virtual Mode is also available on Apple Watch and Android.

Virtual Mode allows for participation in your event from anywhere around the world. This is remote course racing. 

Or you may allow any of these options, creating a united experience between participants in the course’s location and participants anywhere around the world.

Getting started with your route or routes

You can create a route on the RunGo apps (iPhone and Android), but the most powerful and customizable way is on the web at routes.rungoapp.com. It’s free; just create a RunGo account to save your routes properly.

You can build a route from a route already on another digital route site (eg. Strava), from a GPX file, or by plotting it on RunGo’s website.

Here's a tutorial video which may help:

It's possible to make multiple routes too: different distances, or the same distance in multiple locations.

Route examples that fire up runners:

Here are some routes you may enjoy viewing on the web (and their voice messages) or run to test in virtual mode:

• Big Elf Run is full of custom navigation, stories about things you pass, and pre-recorded audio messages from the event personalities and partners:

• BMO Vancouver Marathon 8K: routes.rungoapp.com/route/iN8BGeMBUF includes motivational messages from the race’s elite runners

• Boston Marathon: routes.rungoapp.com/route/Me1wnL7cNx includes audio recorded at location like the famous Scream Tunnel

• Lululemon SeaWheeze: https://routes.rungoapp.com/group/seawheeze/routes includes messages from a run coach, race director, brand ambassador acting as Vancouver tour guide, drag queen, and more

• RunVan’s Great Trek 5k: routes.rungoapp.com/route/G79q82fOoH

• Running With the Devils: routes.rungoapp.com/route/xWVo9ywMRg includes audio recorded messages of the New Jersey Devils hockey players

• The Arthritis Foundation Jingle Bell Run: routes.rungoapp.com/group/2021-virtual-jingle-bell-run/routes

• Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon offers all of their routes, with navigation and recorded audio messages. Participants can run on course with navigation and/or remotely from anywhere with just the audio experience: rungoapp.com/stwm

As you view these routes on the web, you can see all the custom voice messages on the left sidebar, including mentions of points of interest, race stories, and sponsors/partners.

What will participants hear?

When they start the route, they will hear “Starting <route name>” and then the words in the left sidebar (route on the web) sequentially and at those positions along the route.

Participants will hear advanced warning messages, eg. “In one hundred metres, <message>”

By default, advanced warning is 100m/300ft before the turn point or custom message. However, the individual can set that differently in their app settings.

Through audio, participants can follow complex routes without ever having to memorize the route or check their phone or map mid-run.

Optimize your route

This is how you can build the magical run experience, only available on RunGo, the platform for custom routes.

Quick summary at “3 quick ways to improve your route on RunGo,” then read more below.

Once you have plotted your route, please review all the directions in the left sidebar:

Make sure of the following:

• All turns a runner should be aware of are there. If not, use the “Turn Point” tool to add a new turn point

• Remove any unnecessary Turn Points to avoid extra messages

• Add a street name, trail name, or landmark to each turn to give context. Ideally, no turn point should only say, for example “Turn Right”

• Keep turn messages at least 100 meters / 300 feet (0.06 miles) apart, so messages do not overlap

• If not possible, merge turn messages that are too close. Example: “Turn left onto the path, then stay slight right.”

• You may use punctuation (commas or periods) to add pauses to the Siri/Google Assistant voices

• Add Custom Points at any spot to talk about the route or a tell a story about where you are and what you’re passing

• If you have RunGo Premium, you can set custom messages as “Play only once” which means they will not have advanced warning messages as well.

Include Points of Interest (POIs)

Use this tool to add points of interest to the route:

To hear them along the route, connect a Turn Point or Custom Point to it: 

Motivational messages

Here are some virtual race custom message suggestions:

• “Get ready to smile for your Finish Line photo and share your success on social @HANDLE or #HASHTAG”

• “You're almost there! We want to thank you for joining our local non-profit NAME on this scenic journey. We're so proud of you!”

• “Turn slight left onto West Pender Street - and the final stretch! This is it! Give it your all now!”

See more in this shared document.

Suggested start message

“Start at START LINE LOCATION WITH DETAILS. The timer has started! Here we go!”

Suggested end message

“End - Stop the timer now. Congrats, you did it! You've reached the RACE NAME Finish Line. Yeah, you just conquered ACCOMPLISHMENT! Amazing job!”

Suggested additional messages:

It is helpful to have extra messages along the course:

• At intersections that don’t automatically get a turn point from RunGo during route creation, eg. “Continue straight on the main path”

• During long stretches without any turns, “Stay on Rawlings Trail for 1 mile”

• In the final 100-200 metres of the course: “You are nearly there! Get ready to share your finish line celebration photo with us tagging us and using our hashtag, and don’t forget to submit your run to the leaderboard.”

Route name:

Make sure you include a consistent and descriptive name, for example:

“Run With Our Heroes - Running With the Devils 5K Walk and Run #RWTD5K”

Description

Include information about the race or organization, start line location, how RunGo app will guide runners, and virtual modes. For example:

Welcome to the YOUR-RACE-NAME! This app will take you along the race course. You'll receive turn-by-turn directions and learn about points of interests.

Start line is on DESCRIBE START LINE LOCATION

**If running virtually**

Using the Virtual modes (indoors or outdoors), you can run this route virtually on your treadmill or anywhere outdoors. Select the appropriate running mode on the RunGo app to begin the course and timer.

At the end of your run, stop the route, and select the Share icon to Submit to Race leaderboard.

Create a RunGo Group to organize or promote your race and share updates

Consider creating a RunGo Group (free) to organize and promote your routes, at routes.rungoapp.com/groups/new 

Recorded audio messages (paid feature):

Recorded audio messages include voices, sounds, music, or a mix of these. If you will be adding these to your route or routes, consider their location or even add temporary custom message placeholders where those would be on the route.

Learn more and hear examples at rungoapp.com/how-to-audio-messages

It’s ideal to have your first messages near the start of the route, around 100 meters in, announcing the journey they’re about to do.

Messages should be around 10-20 seconds each, which is about 25-50 words. This prevents the critical navigation messages from playing too late.

Messages should be spaced out, at least 100 meters apart.

We recommend around 1-4 messages per km in a route, to complement the Siri and Google Assistant messages, which have no limit.

Contact RunGo for pricing.

GPS-verified leaderboard plus manual submission form (paid feature)

At the end of the run, participants can submit from the app directly to your leaderboard. The result will be verified by GPS data and automatically be in the leaderboard, which is embeddable on your own race website.

We can also provide an embeddable form for any manual submissions:

Leaderboard can be set as one activity, cumulative towards a distance, or a series or multi-route

1. Single routes: defientreprises.com/resultats-2021/

2. Cumulative with badges: routes.rungoapp.com/virtual/race/leaderboard/cumulative/E0LcUAwUd1

3. Series: routes.rungoapp.com/virtual/race/leaderboard/series/awQPLXwgbo

Achievement badges (paid feature)

As participants fill a wide variety of milestones, they can be rewarded with digital badges! Digital rewards are fantastic to avoid shipping costs and also require achievement. These can be triggered by:

1. Achieving a distance

2. Running a specific route

3. Answering a custom submission question with matching responses

Shareable images for participants (paid feature)

Participants can share a photo, selfie, or map from their run, superimposed with their run stats as well as a race logo banner:

All events can create share images. The paid feature refers to a branded top banner.

Route verification

Please send us your race routes, and we will be able to verify some. All paid features include priority route verification.

Test run!

It’s a good idea to run the route yourself, either on the course or in virtual mode (indoors or outdoors).

How to explain your race powered by RunGo to your participants

Many races link to or use the content at rungoapp.com/race-guide to describe how to do this race.

Details for your race:

• You can run your race anytime between DATE and DATE.

• You must run with your smartphone.

• Launch the app and start when you are ready.

• Make sure you have the volume turned up

• The app will give you turn-by-turn voice navigation as well as motivation and points of interest.

• The app will prompt you to stop the timer when you have completed the distance.

• To submit your run to the leaderboard, tap “Share” or “Share Your Run” and “Submit to Race.” Enter your details, in the app, and press submit. Make sure it says that the submission was “successful.” If not, please try again, in case you do not have a connection at that moment.

• Once you submit your run to the leaderboard, the results will be viewable on the race website’s leaderboard.

Here is an example from a race.

Here is an example of a sample script for event details or a race promotion video.

Examples and kind of races you can host

Simple, no app: RunGo leaderboard and manual submission form

This event type does not even need the RunGo app. It will allow participants to submit their own recorded activity distances and add to the leaderboard.

Participants can:

• add multiple entries and have them added together

• earn digital achievement badges

• seek a cumulative distance goal

• fill in a virtual route with their distance, and

contribute to an all-participant distance goal and virtual route tracing.

All of this can be done and embedded on your own website or fundraising site, eg. FundRazr.

Open course racing: race the real route solo

The Trail Portal puts on famous trail races across California. For those who cannot attend the event on race day, participants can get the route on RunGo, follow it solo, hear lots of inspiring stories from race director and partners along the way, and achieve a race time on the RunGo leaderboard.

Remote course racing: everyone can have a unified run experience from anywhere in the world

Boston Marathon’s route on RunGo features sounds from the course, like the famous Scream Tunnel.

Participants could also watch the POV of the course while running in virtual mode:

Imagine that feeling!

The course POV pulls images from Google Street View and animates as you run through them. This is ideal for treadmill runners to imagine and see themselves on the course.

Remote course racing could allow GPS art

Villa Pardoes, a nonprofit organization in the Netherlands, created 2K and 8K routes with the help of a well-known GPS artist, both in the shape of a snail. Participants chose their distance and ran either route remotely, which generated their run share image with a snail drawing.

Hybrid races: some race on course, some race it remotely

Despite having to cancel their in-person annual fundraising run in 2020, the Strachan Hartley Legacy Foundation Run still engaged their community and raised substantial funds for this amazing nonprofit. Their routes were peppered with inspiring audio messages from their leaders and the individuals their organization has supported.

Hybrid races may also include a real-world mass start event. More options means more opportunity to grow your audience.

Explore a neighbourhood of your city with a multi-route race

Atlanta Grand Prix challenges their participants to two different courses (long and short) every 2 weeks for 3 months. Each course explores fun but complex routes in different neighbourhoods around Atlanta.

This event uses the Series leaderboard to rank by lowest multi-run time.

Multi-route events show off your city: run five 5Ks around Denver in 24 hours

In Denver, 5x5K FOR GOOD challenged their runners to complete five 5K courses around the city within 24 hours. They used contactless check-in at each course site, QR codes to access their private routes, and all routes on RunGo to allow participants to follow the courses solo (with custom, turn-by-turn voice directions) and track their times.

Fundraiser event ideas: get inspired The Arthritis Foundation’s Guinness record attempt with their Jingle Bell Run

Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell Run went virtual this year, but that didn’t slow them down or squash their ambition! On the way to attempt the largest remote 5K for the Guinness world record, their event raised more than $3 million for the arthritis community. As a national event, they offered 23 courses in 23 cities, which were developed by local teams with help and guidance from documentation for best practices. One course, in the city of their headquarters, was called the “national route.” Participants could choose which route they wanted to run, although they could do any route in virtual mode, indoors or outdoors.

Many fundraiser events sneak audio messages that mention and honour participants who have donated significantly or overcame more challenges to participate.

Overall fundraiser participants with a RunGo audio-guided run event finish with a stronger understanding of the organization and its mission.

Fun GPS art, run entirely in Virtual Mode

Turkey trots are a running tradition, but why not make a statement while running your Thanksgiving-themed 5K or 10K remotely. We loved seeing the Lincolnwood Turkey Trot virtually draw a turkey, “You’re now drawing the wattle. Make it wrinkly!”

Voices of celebrities, 3 variations

Running with the Devils 5K in 2020 in New Jersey built 3 variations of the same route, with either motivational voices of the New Jersey Devils NHL hockey players, local health care workers, or the team announcer sharing stories about the zoo and zoo animals adjacent to the course.

All run experiences were memorable and moving.

Themed run event with fun audio and local stories

SEA2SKY Events created a festive holiday race, The Big Elf Run, with 5K and 10K routes through the famous Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada.

Participants heard fun facts about sights in the park, pre-recorded motivational messages along the way, and navigation, of course. The messages were hilarious and memorable, including guest appearances from Santa's favourite sporty elf, Fizzy B, radio DJs, and many more.