Forums >General Running>ICYMI: New Run Spots Feature
In case you missed it in the News and Announcements threads, I thought I'd start a thread about the new "Run Spots" feature. See here: https://www.runningahead.com/maps/run_spots It's under the "Resources" tab. According to Eric "It is a composite map of some of the routes that you created. . . . If you are ever in a new city, it might help you find a good place to run."
I've really enjoyed scanning the maps in my area. As the description says, it's very easy to see race routes - the Big Sur marathon stands out on the CA coast, and I also recognize the routes of local urban marathons. It also looks like the map only picks up workouts entered as "runs," which is nice (there are roads with lines that would be much thicker/brighter if bike workouts were included). Although, the lines to the top of Mt. Whitney and Half Dome are also noticeable . . . .
Anything interesting in your area?
It's kind of interesting to play with.
When you select "Popularity" and zoom way out on Massachusetts and southern New England, most of the Boston area is a big blue spider web, but the popular races in far flung places that otherwise don't have a lot of runners (like the Amherst 10 miler, New Bedford Half Marathon, Stu's 30k, Cape Ann 25k, Hyannis Marathon, etc.) stand out sharply, from space.
Hikes/trail runs like the "Pemi Loop" in New Hampshire's White Mountains are easy to spot.
If I zoom in on my town and select "Frequency" all of my usual routes show up. I think I'm personally responsible for a huge chunk of the miles run in my town over the last 10-15 years or so.
Runners run
Very useful for travel/vacation route scouting.
And for times when you look at a map and wonder..."can I get to that street from this street?" (like by crossing a field or something) - can see that yes, people do that. Takes some mystery out of it. Which is good.
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
There appears to be a couple of blue lines going through my house. (Mind blown).
My blog is JT Running DC. It's awesome. Guide to Washington DC Area Running Routes. Guide to the New York City Marathon. Guide to the Boston Marathon. Guide to Running Gear. Guide to Running Clothes.
an amazing likeness
Other than the core races which happen each year, things are pretty blank in my neck of the woods. About 50 miles away, the crazies from the RA Circle North group have managed to stand-out from space.
Like mikeymike, in my town -- using popularity, the only route is the one 5-mile race that happens each July. Using Frequency, it's my daily runs.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
I've been kicking around the idea of cleaning up the data, which will produce a clearer and cleaner image of all the runs. There is still a large set maps that aren't included in the data yet, which may, or may not improve the overall global coverage.
More importantly, I would like to talk to someone about algorithms to clean up and merge the GPS route data. if you know what I'm talking about and would like to help out, please contact me. Thanks!
eric
Oh my, I hadn't even noticed the ability to switch between Popularity and Frequency! You lose the races on Frequency view, but what you do see is the routes run day-in, day-out. This would really be fantastic for finding routes when traveling.
not bad for mile 25
A little request: Could you make the Run Spots routes some color other than blue, so they're easily distinguished from waterways?
Best Present Ever
interesting difference in popularity vs frequency in my small town. In town, you do lose the route of a major race, but the difference isn't that great because it's also on streets that folks just run frequently. When I toggle from popular to frequent looking at trail routes up in the mountains, they basically disappear under frequency and come back under popularity. I suppose this is because they tend to be run as group runs relatively infrequently.
It would be nice to have a color other than blue -- for a moment, I thought the Moormans River was a hot spot ... obviously not that big a deal.