On the go map - route planning tool

[iain-strachan]

Has anyone here used onthegomap.com to plan out your runs?

I only discovered it a few weeks ago. Unlike the measure distance function on Google Maps, which only allows you to input straight line segments, onthegomap figures out the route between two points and snaps the path to that route.

It used to be a bit idiosyncratic - like if there was a triangle of footpaths, it could end up going round the triangle (there is one on one of my regular routes). But today they announced they had upgraded the route planning engine, and it is way better today. I just planned a 6km circuit run that I'm intending to do this evening (Week 2 of JuJu's magic running plan) and the whole route took about 6 clicks despite being along two segments of a ring road and then back through town. (Many many runners on the ring road that has a superb pavement all along one side).

The only thing is it will find the shortest route, which of course you don't always want. But you can undo the last step by typing Z, or you can drag the route from the unwanted bit onto a point you want to go to quite easily.

Well, here goes for this evening's run!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

I use the footpath app which is similar... certainly similar to yours before the update, it can sometimes find bizarre routes, but so does my sat nav! I’ll check this one out as it’s sounding a lot better.

[Granspeed Graduate10]

This sounds useful. Thanks for the steer. 👏🏼

[Buddy34 Graduate10]

Hello, iain. I have used this also if your interested

plotaroute.com/routeplanner

[iain-strachan Graduate10 in reply to Buddy34]

That looks pretty similar to onthegomap, perhaps a little bit slower at calculating the route. Haven't discovered keyboard shortcuts yet. In onthegomap you can undo the last step simply by hitting the Z.

[caroldavies071969 Graduate10]

I use Onthegomap regularly. I love planning routes and knowing the distance, although I often find that the actual run can be a bit different in distance to what I had planned, but not by much. It's also useful for seeing the elevations of a run!

[linda9389 Graduate10]

I used to use Rungo and now use Komoot. Both have the advantage of voice navigation prompts - just like a sat nav - which is really useful on longer, new routes. Komoot has different settings for walking or cycling etc, so tries to find the best route for your chosen activity. Also plenty of idiosyncrasies, but it's based on Open Maps, so can only ever be as good as the data on there. I absolutely love komoot for cycling, but think I'll use it for running too if I ever get back to long distances.

[iain-strachan Graduate10 in reply to linda9389]

The voice prompt sounds a good idea - though at the moment all the runs are around the town I live in, so I know it like the back of my hand. I'll plan the route on the desktop computer just to get the route right.

[linda9389 Graduate10 in reply to iain-strachan]

Sounds perfect. If you ever travel further afield or maybe run on holiday, komoot is worth a look 🙂