Mapping Distance

Clum

Hi Folks.

Does anybody know if any of the distance-mapping websites use the same GPS maps as Garmin products? The likes of mapmyrun and walkjogrun are good for cities but in the midlands of Ireland all they show are the main roads.

mysatnav.ie use Route 66 or Navteq (not sure exactly, could be same thing) who's map can be seen on mapquest.com and this map has almost 100% mapping of the midlands, including streets in towns aswell as country roads.

Short of buying a garmin fitness gps I'm not sure if it's possible to use the mapquest data to record distance.

Any ideas?

damianmckeever

Clum wrote:

Hi Folks.

Does anybody know if any of the distance-mapping websites use the same GPS maps as Garmin products? The likes of mapmyrun and walkjogrun are good for cities but in the midlands of Ireland all they show are the main roads.

mysatnav.ie use Route 66 or Navteq (not sure exactly, could be same thing) who's map can be seen on mapquest.com and this map has almost 100% mapping of the midlands, including streets in towns aswell as country roads.

Short of buying a garmin fitness gps I'm not sure if it's possible to use the mapquest data to record distance.

Any ideas?

Hi Clum,

Don't know about anywebsites but one of the best products I've seen recently for such a low price (€30) to track your run accuratley has to be the Nike pod. Which works in conjunction with an ipod nano, but for €30 it's a bargain.

Is it accurate? I've tested it on 400meter track down in Greystones and it seems spot on every time. I've tested it on some hill routes I already know the distance to and it's been bang on. You don't need a pair of nike runners to use it either just get a pocket lace and put it in there or if you're laces are pretty secure you can pop it in there.

If you already have an ipod nano and you've any interest at all in distance than this is a must. By the way we don't sell them so I'm not trying to flog you something.

snack_ie

MapMyRun.com... it sort you right out...

plodder

damianmckeever wrote:

Hi Clum,

Don't know about anywebsites but one of the best products I've seen recently for such a low price (€30) to track your run accuratley has to be the Nike pod. Which works in conjunction with an ipod nano, but for €30 it's a bargain.

Is it accurate? I've tested it on 400meter track down in Greystones and it seems spot on every time. I've tested it on some hill routes I already know the distance to and it's been bang on. You don't need a pair of nike runners to use it either just get a pocket lace and put it in there or if you're laces are pretty secure you can pop it in there.

If you already have an ipod nano and you've any interest at all in distance than this is a must. By the way we don't sell them so I'm not trying to flog you something.

My wife bought me one of those for Christmas, and I must admit I'm having a lot of fun with it. But the jury is still out on how accurate it is for me. After all, it's really just a glorified pedometer, and its accuracy is dependent on your stride length staying fairly constant.

As for the original question, I don't have the answer either, but I listened to an interesting program about GPS mapping on the radio recently, and currently there is only one company (Navteq) with a 100% complete GPS road map of the country. A second company is working on it, and will have its own map data complete within a few months.

I would imagine that sooner or later, the websites will all get complete maps of the country, but exactly when, who knows ???

plodder

Just occurred to me. If you have ordinary OS maps, and have access to a scanner (to scan the area you want to run), then there is a very simple and neat (and free) piece of software called routeruler (google it) which allows you to trace the routes you want to run. It will tell you how long each route is, and you can store them all, print them out etc. if necessary. I've been using it for a few years now.

thirtyfoot

Runners World magazine has a piece this month on gps and all that jazz.

Krusty_Clown

I use Garmin's MapSource (comes free with the GPS receivers)..
If you're not interested in picking up a GPS receiver, then there are some websites that use the latest NavTeq maps.

One example is UK Map24
While the routing isn't runner-friendly, you can set [Start][Finish] and add via points to get approximately what you want.. Oh and it includes elevation information, so you can get an idea of what the hills might be like (handy for the Connemarathon!).

Other than that, if you want the latest NavTeq maps, (and a windows application to manipulate them) then Garmin is the way to go.

Slogger Jogger

Hi,

I swear by the OSI trailmaster software. I only use it in a limited way - planning out my routes for long runs in Wicklow. It gives exact distances and ascents. For my purposes its brill - it takes the guesswork out of the long runs. There are GPS tie-ins in the software if you had GPS devices - don't have one myself so I can't comment.

Regards

Krusty_Clown

I'd love to give them a go, but they're 99 euro north of free (for the East region only).
Seems such a shame that the OSI feels the need to charge these kinds of prices for software that we pay to create and maintain anyway.. I'll stick with my NavTeq maps and Scottish Mountaineering contour maps..