Sports enthusiasts from more than 35 countries around the globe shared in the team’s experience as their progress was shown live on the web. During the event, more than 3,000 people logged on to watch the action unfold, spending an average of 90minutes each watching the event online during the weekend.

Map My Tracks provides everything needed to easily track competitors in sports events and broadcast live action on the web. Sports event organisers can use Map My Tracks to broadcast live action of events on the web through a single embeddable race tracker that features Twitter updates, video, photo streams and statistics of the event.

Event organiser Sven Thiele from HotChillee said: “James Cracknell and Team HotChillee could not have set their amazing record without the logistical and technical back-up from Map My Tracks.  The live, real-time tracking of all 842 miles produced a huge following on the web from cyclists across the globe.  Map My Tracks added an exciting extra dimension to the event which meant that cycling fans were with James and the team all the way from Land’s End and John O’Groats.”

Map My Tracks MD, Nick Tatt, said “The success of this event online shows Map My Tracks leads the way in providing engaging real-time telemetry solutions for sports events. Bringing sports events to an online audience all around the world helps build the profile of events and provides additional profile and value for event sponsors too.”

View the Land’s End to John O’Groats route

Cracknell and a team of three elite riders will take part in the HotChillee End To End Challenge starting on Saturday, October 17th.  It will be an attempt to establish the first world record for a cycle relay team from one end of the UK to the other.

Sports tracking specialists Map My Tracks will be providing real time tracking of the End To End Challenge. Cracknell and the team can be followed live online at http://www.mapmytracks.com as they power their way across Britain. Map My Tracks is also providing live Twitter updates, a photo stream and race statistics of the record attempt for online spectators to follow.

The 842 mile classic route is covered by hundreds of cyclists every year in charity rides typically taking nine to 14 days – Team HotChillee’s target is 40 hours.

Nick Tatt, of Map My Tracks, said: “We are really excited to be part of this impressive record attempt.  Map My Tracks is all about showcasing sporting achievements of this kind so that people can follow the action around the world as it happens.  We’ll be tracking the progress of the riders live on our website, http://www.mapmytracks.com, from start to finish so that everyone can follow their progress, read tweets from Twitter and view photos of the event.”

Cracknell, who this year rode in the London-Paris Cycle Tour and the L’Etape du Tour, said: “Cycling has become a huge part of my sporting life and setting a new world record from Land’s End to John O’Groats has been a goal of mine for a while.”

The 37-year-old double Olympic rowing gold medallist said “I’ve rowed across the Atlantic and skied to the South Pole but I know that cycling from one end of Britain to the other at world record pace will be my toughest challenge yet.”

Cracknell, who will lead next summer’s Deloitte Ride Across Britain, added: “The opportunity to cycle the length of our beautiful country is something I relish.  The HotChillee cyclists are determined to do something special and our record attempt will help me prepare for the Ride Across Britain.”

Sven Thiele, of HotChillee, the global marketing and events company staging the world record attempt, said: “We’re proud to have a world class athlete on our team to attempt the world record.  James and the HotChillee squad epitomise what we’re all about.”

Thiele added: “It’s going to be a tough challenge which will push them to the limit, mentally and physically.  But we’re determined to achieve an inspiring, world class cycling performance on the UK’s classic long distance route.”

The HotChillee End To End team will ride the 842 miles non-stop on aerodynamic time trial bikes.  One rider will always be on the road, with the other three resting in a support vehicle. 

The current record for the End To End ride by a single rider is held by ex-pro cyclist Gethin Butler, who covered the distance in 44 hours, four minutes and 20 seconds in 2001. 

The other HotChillee End To End riders are London-based Australian IT director Jerone Walters, Steve Golla and Phill Sykes. 

Walters (36), a Sigma Sport rider, was 7th in September’s British Time Trial Championship and is a three times yellow jersey holder in the London-Paris Cycle Tour.  He said: “It’s not every day that you’re challenged to set a world record and I’ve made this my top priority.  Having James Cracknell with us will add great experience and professionalism to this endurance challenge.” Walters, from Weybridge, added: “Our average speed schedule is ambitious for 40 hours. We are hoping for a howling tail wind.”

His Sigma team mate, 35 year old Golla, a construction manager from Princes Risborough, is an elite road racer and time trial specialist who secured 11 wins in the 2009 season.  He said: “If the HotChillee record attempt is successful, it’ll be an achievement of a lifetime and could set the benchmark for future rides.  I think this could be the start of a fascination for the E2E Challenge as an endurance event.  Having James with us will be an inspiration.”

Sykes (35), a sports manager from Petersfield, is a TT specialist who is moving to Sigma Sport from VC St Raphael next year.  He was 4th in the National 50 mile TT and the National Team TT.  Sykes, a father of two, said: “I’ve had a very successful season and I’m riding the HotChillee E2E to end on a high. It’s something completely out of my comfort zone and I’m excited to see if I can rise to the challenge.  I’m also hoping the work ethic of an Olympic champion will rub off on me for next season.”

The assault on a relay record for Land’s End to John O’Groats will set the benchmark for next summer’s HotChillee E2E Relay Challenge.  This new mass endurance relay ride will be open to amateur cyclists wanting to challenge the record set by Cracknell and his team.

The End To End Challenge is also sponsored by HotChillee, road cycling and triathlon specialist Sigma Sport, sports nutrition manufacturer Science In Sport, sports skincare company Sportique and media and sponsorship specialists Cyclevox, who will be filming the record attempt.  Sports clothing company adidas will be supplying Team HotChillee’s kit.

Map My Tracks version 1.5.3 is a minor bug fix release that includes:

- Greater support for Sony Ericsson phones with internal GPS.
- Fixes for compatibility issues on various mobile networks.

Download to your phone

Downloading the latest version is simple. Either download the files to your desktop or install it over the air browsing on your mobile to http://www.mapmytracks.com/install.

We hope you enjoy using Map My Tracks.

From Map My Tracks team

So what’s popular this month?

Top activity this month so far is cycling with 1915 kilometres of public activities logged. Driving is a close second with 1810 kilometres. Then it’s miscellaneous activities, running and motor racing as the fifth most popular activity.

Of all the cyclists out there Klaas is leading the charge this month with 289km logged so far. View the full breakdown of cycling activities

Cale is currently leading the runners league with 70.2km logged this month.

Have you run or cycled more? Then upload your activities to see where you get ranked.

Add activities the way you want

We’ve recently made it a lot easier for you to add activities into your online actvity log. There are 4 ways to do it:

1. Live sync from a mobile phone
Use the MMT tracker on your mobile in live sync mode and your activities are uploaded to your online log as you carry out the activity.

2. Record then sync from a mobile phone
Use the MMT tracker on your mobile in offline mode and upload your activities after each activity.

3. Upload GPX files of activities recorded with data loggers
Use third-party data logging devices and upload GPX files into your online activity log.

4. Connect and upload activities direct from Garmin devices
Use the Garmin Communicator plugin to connect your Garmin devices directly to Map My Tracks and upload activities into your online activity log.

We hope you enjoy the new features. Keep letting us know what you want to see on the site. Your feedback helps us develop the tools you want to see.

Uploading activities direct from Garmin devices is simple

Step 1. Install the Garmin Communicator Plugin
Download and install this Internet browser plugin to transfer data from your device to Map My Tracks. Download Garmin Communicator Plugin

Step 2. Upload activities
1. Login to Map My Tracks or sign up for a free account.
2. Go to My profile > Upload activities > Garmin activity.
3. Connect your device to the computer with a USB cable or use the ANT+ wireless connection.
4. Once connected the Communicator will detect your device. Once detected click ‘Select device’.
5. Select the activity you want to upload and click ‘Select activity’.
6. Add extra information to the activity then click ‘Upload activity’.
7. The activity will take a moment to upload to your account.

Once uploaded the activities are online to replay, share or analyse.

We hope you enjoy using this new feature on Map My Tracks.

Also included in this release is a correction to the dates of each activity stored within My Activities.

We recommend that all Blackberry users upgrade to this version to benefit from the fixes included.

Upgrading is simple to do. Choose the correct package to download and install for your phone. Once installed you should be ready to use the new version as your username and password should have been remembered.

We’re keen to here from everyone that uses Map My Tracks. Your feedback is very useful and helps to guide which features we next roll out. Keep the comments and suggestions coming.

We hope you enjoy the new release.

Each Tour de France stage replay provides a unique way of seeing the racing action and lets you easily understand where the time trials were won or lost. It’s a fascinating way to analyse the performance of riders over the whole course and quite clearly demonstrates the relative finishing positions at the end of the race.

The team time trial replay illustrates how Lance Armstrong and the Astana team powered through the course to take the top slot. Quite an impressive demonstration of their talent. The individual time trial shows the strength of the top riders that set the pace.

GPS traces of the routes are displayed over Google Maps with split times, speed, distances and stage standings available for analysis.

Replay Stage 1 and Stage 4 of the Tour de France

Stage 1 replay

Stage 4 replay

We’ll be broadcasting the final individual time trial on stage 18. Tune in to watch the race action on July 23.

We hope you like the new feature. Let us know what you think.

Version 1.5 is available to download for all compatible mobile phones and includes some significant changes that, we think, make Map My Tracks even more useful.

What’s new in this version?

Offline tracking

It’s now possible to use Map My Tracks in an offline mode. This lets you track your activities without needing to have a persistent internet connect. This great for using Map My Tracks in remote areas where there is no mobile phone network. It can also help to keep any data charges down. At the end of an activity it’s easy to sync the session to your online Map My Tracks activity log or share it on Twitter with others.

My activities

This version introduces and activity log stored on the phone so that you can review and analysis each session without having to go to the website. It’s possible to manage each activity session direct from the phone: analyse, share or delete any activity created.

Set up Map My Tracks the way you want it

A host of new settings let you set up some default preferences. These include map options, activity type, sync status, privacy status, location sharing with third parties and backup frequency.

Making the most of Map My Tracks

To get the best out of this version we strongly recommend that you set up the application’s permissions on the phone. This ensures you can avoid any unnecessary authorisations message that appear during an activity session. Read the user guide for guidance on how to do this on your Nokia or Blackberry phones.

We’ll be covering more of the new features in more detail over the next week. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new release. Download it now.

Using the mobile event manager is simple

To use the mobile event manager browse to www.mapmytracks.com/m/ on a mobile phone then log in to the My events page. You’ll need to first create your event from a desktop browser but having done so everything else can be managed from a mobile phone.

Once the event in place new races can be added direct from a mobile phone. Active competitors will appear within the event manager ready to start or stop race tracking when required.

We hope you enjoy using the mobile event manager. If you have any suggestions of new tools or features we’d like to hear from you.

Twitter is all about real-time conversations with people so it made sense to let event organisers post tweets when managing events.  It’s super simple to use and has the added benefit of letting other Twitter users join in conversations about the event.

So how does it work?

As an event organiser you may already be using Twitter to promote your event and have conversations with people. If so, simply add your Twitter account details when creating an event. If you don’t have an account then all race news is posted to Map My Tracks on Twitter. Either way, race news can be posted from within the event manager or through Twitter. All tweets using the event’s tag will be displayed to spectators watching the racing action on Map My Tracks.

For example, the upcoming Round the Island Race has an event tag of RTIR2009 on Map My Tracks . All race news (tweets) from the event organiser will carry the hashtag of #RTIR2009. The really great part is that this tag can also be used by any other Twitter user to join in the conversation and have their tweets part of the event on Map My Tracks.

We really hope you like this new feature. Please do let us know what you think.

Building on the first release that permitted the retrieval of activities we have added ways to track. One of the most exciting features of the API is how it lets developers track live if required. In short the API now also includes:

• Start activity
• Update activity
• Stop activity
• Get time

More information about how to use the API in our developer section.

If you’re a developer and interested in using the API go right ahead. If you have any questions please contact us at support@mapmytracks.com. 

What’s new in this version?

Version 1.4.6 is available for all compatible mobile phones includes a range of improvements that we think you’ll like. Here are eight good reasons to upgrade today:

• Improved interface design
• Maps can be turned on or off during an activity
• Activity type option now available when starting a track
• Event tracking optimised
• Elevation data added
• Clock counter optimised to avoid lag caused by phone’s with a lower memory
• Current and fastest pace calculation corrected
• Various minor performance enhancements

As ever, we strongly recommend that all users upgrade to the latest version. Upgrading is easy. To get started simply use your phone to browse to http://www.mapmytracks.com/install and download the latest version direct to your phone. Alternatively, download the latest package to your desktop and install it using your phone’s desktop suite.

Thank you to all the users that have given us some feedback on how you use Map My Tracks and way to make it even better. Keep the suggestions coming and we hope you enjoy the latest release. 

The Event Manager is free to use for event organisers and for competitors in races up to one hour long. For races longer than one hour competitors need to subscribe to the Map My Tracks Pro Plan giving unlimited tracking for £5.99 per month. Map My Tracks shares this fee with event organisers helping them to increase revenue from each event competitor.

The web-based Event Manager also allows the race to be shown on a big screen live to spectators and to online viewers. The built in tools provide each competitor with a comprehensive breakdown of their race performance as well as a print-out of their track itself. The Event Manager can also help event organisers monitor the safety of participants through accurate and reliable GPS tracking.

Map My Tracks MD Nick Tatt said “Our events customers told us they wanted low cost tracking that was simple to set up. With our new event system and revenue sharing plan, we have delivered everything an event organiser needs to easily incorporate GPS tracking into their event.”

The Map My Tracks Event Manager can be used to track a wide range of sports including sailing, running, cycling, orienteering, walking, canoeing, hot air ballooning, windsurfing, paragliding, hang gliding and rowing.

View more information about the Map My Tracks event management system
View the World Rally Championship event replay

We’ve made it easy to analyse the profile of the activity over the distance of the activity or over the time of the activity. Both offer something a little different and provide some interesting viewing. The graph tools let you zoom in to a particular phase of the activity to really get a close look at the data. 

The elevation data is drawn from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation data and, in our experience, provides a more stable impression of the elevation in comparison to a lot of GPS elevation data acquired directly from a mobile phone.

Do let us know what you think. And, as ever, give us your feedback on this new feature and any other tools you’d like to see on Map My Tracks.

We’re really excited about this new feature and best of all it’s available free, under both the Free and Pro Plans, to use and upload as many activities as you like. Up until now it has only been possible to add activities directly by using the Map My Tracks mobile application but now it’s open to other devices.

Uploading an activity

Uploading an activity is easy. First export the GPX data file from your device then go to your My Activities page on Map My Tracks. In the sidebar click on ‘Import track data’. Fill out the form to give it a title, description and activity type then browse to your GPX data file you created earlier and click on ‘Import my activity’. It’s that simple.

Once uploaded the activity slots right in with your other activities and can be replayed, compared or shared just like all the other activities.

What is a GPX file?

Not sure what a GPX file is? In short, it’s a handy file format to move GPS data around. In the words of Wikipedia, “GPX, or GPS eXchange Format is an XML schema designed for describing GPS data between software applications.”

At present, the data import needs to be in a GPX file format. Most devices allow you to export your track data in this format. If your device doesn’t directly export as GPX there is a handy convector available from GPSBabel to help in the process.

As ever, we hope you enjoy this new feature. Let us know how you get on.

Once configured Friends on Fire shows your last know location as well as any friends you share with on Facebook. It also updates your activity wall with location and any signals that you make.

Set up your Facebook

To get started you’ll first need a Fire Eagle account. Set one up here if you don’t already have one.

Once you have your Fire Eagle account you’ll need to configure your Map My Tracks account to start sharing your location with Fire Eagle. This is set up your Map My Tracks profile page.

Click on Enable in the the Fire Eagle section. This will let you confirm that you wish to share your Map My Tracks locations with Fire Eagle.

The next step is to set up Facebook with Friends on Fire. Follow the onscreen prompts and you are all set up.

To update your location all you need to do it switch on sharing in Map My Tracks on your phone, adjust the frequency of updates and start ‘Where am I?’ or begin an activity.

Best of all, using Map My Tracks Where am I? tool is free to use with no limits on the amount of updates made. This makes it the perfect way to update your location with Fire Eagle and many other compatible applications. For more location sharing fun check out the for a full list of applications that Map My Tracks plays nicely with through Fire Eagle.

We hope you like this new addition as much as we do. Please let us know what you think by posting a comment below or getting in touch by email.

So what does this mean? If you’re reading this and wondering what an API is then skip this message and save yourself. For those of you who know your APIs from your apples then you’ll be interested to hear that you can start to retrieve Map My Tracks activities and track data as XML.

To start with, if you know the username of a Map My Tracks user you can get:

• their full list of public activities; and
• all geo data for each activity.

If you also know the password of a Map My Tracks users you can also get:

• their full list of private activities; and
• all geo data for each activity.

Read more about how to use the API in our developer section.

It’s just a start of course. There is a lot of data about activities and users on Map My Tracks, and we plan on making a lot of it accessible to developers. Make sure you let us know what you’d like to see in the API in the future. Leave us a comment.

The web-based event manager provides event organisers with a comprehensive suite of tools to manage all aspects of their event and race tracking. It continuously communicates with each participating competitor’s mobile phone and provides controls to start and stop tracking. As a web-based application it allows event organisers to control the tracking of their event from any internet-enabled computer.

The powerful Map My Tracks event manager is a practical solution that provides GPS tracking for mass participation sports events. It lets event organisers:

• Simultaneously track multiple competitors and display a bird’s eye view of the activity on the web
• Show it LIVE on the web for those that couldn’t make it
• Show it LIVE at race HQ on the big screen during the race for spectators
• Brand the race viewer with club or sponsor’s logos
• Entertain competitors with replays after the event
• Provide each competitor with a race breakdown of performance and a print-out of tracks
• and much more.

The Map My Tracks Event Manager combines tracks, add marks, controls all GPS devices and publish the races to the web. It’s great away for sports associations or clubs to benefit from affordable real-time GPS tracking to clubs.

Who should use the event manager

It’s simple. Anyone organising an outdoor event. It’s a great way to bring the action at events to a wider audience. It’s perfect for sports events like sailing, motor racing, rallies, cycling, running or just for fun.

Get started

The event manager is now in beta and open to use free of charge. To get started go to Events then click on the ‘Create a new event’. To create an event you will need a Map My Tracks account. Events can be created by users with Free or Pro Plans.

We hope you enjoy using the event manager.

You can download the most recent version or use your mobile browser to install the files over the air at www.mapmytracks.com/install.

For optimum performance on Blackberry devices, set up the network access and GPS permissions. This avoids annoying pop up dialog boxes when you start to track.
Navigate to Options->Advanced Options->Applications->Map My Tracks and set the relevant permissions to “Allow”.

This can also be done for S60 phones. This is typically available at Dashboard > Settings > Data mgr > App mgr > Map My Tracks > Options > Open. Here you can set the default access points and the connection permissions. This is quite useful when using Map My Tracks at an event as it avoids having to authorise a connection for a second time.

• share your sporting activity in real-time with others;
• get a breakdown of your activity (e.g., pace, split times, distance, speed);
• see where you are overlayed on maps direct from your phone;
• and much more.

Map My Tracks activity viewer
A powerful web-based activity viewer that let you explore your sporting activity or other public activities. It lets you:

• watch other LIVE public activities
• track your race with Map My Tracks and discover where your race was won or lost
• replay your tracks overlayed on street or satellite maps
• analyse distance, top speed, average speed, direction, and much more
• compare and replay two tracks together and watch your performance
• and much more.

Map My Tracks mobile viewer
A handy mobile web browsing tool that is great to follow other public activities directly from your own phone. When publically sharing your activity others can follow your progress by launching mapmytracks.com/m on their own mobile phones. This is compatible with any internet enabled mobile phone that has a mobile web browser. It’s great for friends, family or spectators to be able to follow your progress when you are out and about. You can find others around your area or log in and review your own activities.

Map My Tracks event manager
A powerful event manage system that lets organisers of mass participation sporting events to track and broadcast real-time locations of competitors live to the web. It lets event organisers:

• Simultaneously track multiple competitors and display a bird’s eye view of the activity on the web
• Show it LIVE on the web for those that couldn’t make it
• Show it LIVE at race HQ on the big screen during the race for spectators
• Entertain competitors with replays after the event
• Provide each competitor with a race breakdown of performance and a print-out of tracks
• and much more.

Last location map
Show your last location on your blog or website. The last location map updates a map each time you make a public track using Map My Tracks. This can be set up on your profile page.

Activity and location sharing
It’s easy to share your activities and location with other sites that you may use. Update your activity on sites like:

• Twitter
• Fire Eagle
• FriendFeed

This can be set up on your profile page.

There is a lot more that you can do with Map My Tracks. At events it’s possible for spectators to use their own mobile phones to follow competitors or see who’s approaching their position. Competitors can analyse where races were won or lost. It’s great as a training tool that can benchmark your performance and make it easy to review your progress over time.

Let us know how you use Map My Track.