Create Free Race Map
Create a free race course map to help promote your event. People select a race for many different reasons. A good race course is one of the top ones. Starting with a good route helps you grow your race An easy or fast race course encourages more participation. A scenic route also makes a race more attractive.
Race Maps - Easy to Build & Easy to Use
Create your race map for free. You can build an interactive race map for your marathon, half marathon, 5k, bike races, and any other endurance event with Race Entry’s easy race map creator. Use informative icons to mark aid stations and port-a-potties.
Race Entry’s free race maps include elevation details, street views, aid stations, port-a-potty, and other points of interest. These maps are easy to zoom in and out so participants can get all the granular details they want.
Create Race MapRace Elevation Chart
Automatically create your race elevation chart when you make your free race map. Customize your elevation chart to match your race colors. Easily copy and paste auto-generated code to add your race elevation chart to your website.
Create Elevation Chart
Easily Add Race Maps to Your Site
Integrate your race maps on your site easily with automatically generated code. When you set-up your registration on Race Entry, you’ll also benefit from a webpage and a listing on Race Entry’s race calendar.
Race Entry visitors can use our searchable calendar to find your race listing. These services are also free, like our race course map builder.
Your Race Entry page includes a link to your race map and can be customized with photos or videos from your race. It also links to your race website to make it easy for people to connect with you.
With these additional tools, it’s easy to increase your participation with Race Entry’s race map software.
Detailed Marathon Maps Save You Time
A good marathon map helps answer participant questions so you don’t have to answer them. Really, it doesn’t matter what kind of race you're organizing – a 5k course map or a bike ride course map are invaluable for answering common questions from participants.
For example, a good race map answers questions like:
- What is the race course?
- Is the race downhill?
- How many hills are in the race?
- Where are the port-a-potties located?
- How many aid stations will there be?
- Where will the aid stations be?
- Are there any good areas for spectators?
- Where is the bus pickup?
- Where is the finish line?
- Where should I park?
- Do you have an expo?
- Where is the expo?
- Where should I pick up my packet?
Nothing else answers all of these questions more quickly than a good race map. And nothing makes a better race map than our race map builder.
How to Create Your Free Course Map Easily
You can create course maps in a few short minutes. Our course map builder is easy to use. Follow the steps below:
- Create your Race Entry account. (It’s free.)
- Name and build your map. (Take the time you need to get the details right.)
- Save your map. (The finish line is in sight.)
- Review and copy the embed code. (You’ve crossed the finish line.)
You can create a running course map for each of your distances that will be displayed on your race website. Your race map will include details about aid stations, portapotties, and elevation in addition to the race course route.
Create Free Race Map
Route Map for your Charitable Race
Course maps help you sell your race. A good cause also motivates people to run your race. Some participants exclusively look for charitable races to participate in.
Race Entry offers fundraising tools that help charities raise more. Create unique pages for all of your charity or nonprofit partners for free. Track fundraising goals and progress and gather donations through these pages. Learn more about fundraising strategies with races.
A race map helps you showcase your route’s ease and beauty. Participants want to know what they are signing up for, and a race map offers that information.
Race Map Benefits
Course maps benefit your race in three key ways:
- marketing
- participant preparation
- customer support
Marketing
Athletes choose races for various reasons – location, difficulty, notoriety, charity partnerships, etc. Leverage your course to attract your target audiences.
If you’re looking for athletes who want a challenging course, highlight that with your course map. Of course, do the same if you’re trying to attract athletes looking for an easier course.
Whatever the difficulty or notoriety of your race, highlight various attractions on your route. Maybe your course goes by famous buildings or beautiful vistas. It’s even better if it’s hard to enjoy those views when running or biking solo because it adds a valuable, rare experience to your race.
Participant Preperation
You’re going to do everything you can to ensure your race course is safe – from covering ditches and offering aid stations to having medical professionals on hand in case of emergency.
When your participants are well-prepared for your course, the safer they’ll be at your race. Your race map is how you communicate to athletes what to expect in terms of elevation, turns, and terrain. With this information, participants can identify where the most challenging parts of your route are. All of these factors affect training choices especially if your course is long like a bike ride or a marathon.
For competitive athletes, understanding the course is key to performing well. Understanding the route helps them make their strategy so they compete as well as they’d like to.
Customer Support
You’ve heard the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words.” A course map does the same for your race.
You could spend time writing up all of the details of your course, but it’s much faster and easier for your participants to consume an image of your course. It’s even better if your map is interactive, so they can zoom in on the parts of your route they’re most interested in.
So, rather than spending your time on a write-up, spend the time making a detailed and informative map. It can also save you time on customer support because people can answer their own questions with your detailed map.
Course Mapping Tool Features
Most race maps are digital. Many race mapping services offer embeddable and linkable route maps, which makes it easy to get your course map in front of your participants as they’re deciding to sign up for your race.
Lots of course mapping tools also offer map imports and exports, which lets participants add your course map to their watches or GPS devices. Participants like having the course map on-hand, especially as they’re on the course.
There are even course maps that can be used for tracking participants on the course, often called live tracking. These maps are particularly great for long courses and a large spectator crowd.
And, mapping software includes several options for map markers and photo galleries. The variety of map markers lets you differentiate between aid stations, start and finish lines, port-a-potties, scenic points, etc.
Participants also care about elevation changes – especially if the course isn’t relatively flat. And, good course map tools will also show elevation changes. Depending on your budget, you can also pay for a topographic map of your course. But, most of the time – a free digital race map that shows elevation is sufficient.
How to Create Free Course Map & Free Registration Form
You might as well create your registration page when you create your free course map. It’s all free and easy to do with Race Entry’s software. Follow the steps below.
- Create your Race Entry Director account. (Did we mention it’s free?)
- Enter the details for your race – categories, distances, dates, etc. (Also, free. Plus, you can have your race added to our race calendar for free.)
- Navigate to the dashboard. From the sidebar menu, select “Event Administration”, then “Create/Edit Maps”. (Notice the other free tools available. Yes, we offer a lot of free services to race directors.)
- Click “Create Race Map.” (Alternatively, if you’ve built your map on different software, you can click the “Upload Map.” We promise not to be offended.)
- Name your map, and follow the instructions for building your map. You’ll add the route with a start and finish line. Then, you can add all of the markers you need for porta-potties, aid stations, and more. (Yep, your race map is all still free. Sick of seeing that word, yet?)
- Save your map.
- Next, you’ll see a preview and copy the embed code.
- To make another course map, click the “Return to Maps” button. You’ll see the map you just created. And, you can create as many more maps as you need. (No additional charge. No gimmicks here. All of your race maps are free.)
- Click your race name at the top of the page to return to the dashboard to get started prepping other parts of your race like registration, sponsorship, fundraising, etc.
