A couple weeks ago we upgraded our web host to address increasing demand and we have been experiencing a few side effects. There are intermittent problems at the moment with account activation. If you have created an account and did not get your account activation email, please email us at info {{at}} runningmap.com.

For the past few weeks we have had problems getting elevation data from our third party service provider. This problem is unrelated to our recent web host upgrade. We are working to re-establish elevation data as soon as possible.

UPDATE (08/08/2008): account activation problems have been fixed and elevation is working again.

- Randy

We are planning on upgrading the server and database for RunningMap.com starting Saturday, July 26 at 12:00 am EST. We anticipate the upgrade will take about 24 hours. During this time RunningMap.com will be in a “read-only” mode which means that users will not be able to save new routes or create new accounts. The mapping application will still work for measuring distances, searching or loading previously saved routes. Permalinks will also be available.

We are working hard to make this site even better for you. We appreciate your patience during this time.

This happy group is the team that represented NAIT at the 2008 Corporate Challenge road race in Edmonton. I am the guy with the gold Running Room hat. It was a perfect evening for a race and let’s just say I didn’t leave anything out on the course. My fellow team members (Kristen, Kevin, Jody, Rob, Jody, Ashley and Christine) were great and I would run with them any time. Kevin would be very hard to keep up though.

I have been listening to Tom Allen’s show on CBC radio two, Music and Company, since he took over for Peter Tongi years ago. I love his show! Where else would I have heard about the extraodinary article Pearls Before Breakfast where Joshua Bell, internationally acclaimed virtuoso, plays “Chaconne” from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor on his “Gibson ex Huberman” Stradivari violin in a Washington subway station. Acting as a busker.

I am very exited to see that Music and Company added Runningmap.com to it’s list of links from the Wed. May 28 2008 show. Thanks Tom!

- Randy

A long-standing feature request, the “Plot Back to Start” button has been finally added. It is easy to use: click it if you have created a route and want to use the same path back to the start. It will lay points and lines on top of each other so be careful using it multiple times on one route.

Routes are limited to a maximum of 500 points, so the “Plot Back to Start” button will not work if your route has over 250 points.

Amber Mac from commandN.tv chose RunningMap as her webPick on this week’s episode (# 128). I have been listening and watching her podcasts for years and I am very flattered to be chosen as her scrumptulescent pick of the week. Thanks for the shout out Amber! (the webPicks are at 14:00)

The Yahoo! Maps team has announced that they have updated their maps with new data and new functionality. Since RunningMap uses Yahoo! maps you will see these improvements on maps displayed here. Some of the improvements:

• new neighborhood data for over 300 cities
• 12,000 new neighborhoods added
• expanded world-wide coverage: Eastern Europe and India for example
• improved hybrid maps

… and more

We are ecstatic to bring you a new RunningMap. A ton of work has gone into designing, building and testing this new version. It has been a labour of love.

The first thing you will notice is the new look. The design comes from the genius and talent of Sarah Ramsden. We couldn’t be happier with the result! And seeing our site on her portfolio page among clients the likes of Mercedes, Hyatt, Dell and Lexus does not hurt either. In addition to being a star graphic designer, she is one mean runner.

The tool bar along the top has been replaced with a tabbed nav bar down the left side. This was done to accommodate the more complex new and future feature set.

The biggest new feature is User Accounts. When you log in and save a route you will see it appear in the “My Routes” view. New routes can be labeled as Private or Public. In “My Routes”, you can delete existing routes. If you have a previously saved permalink, send us the ID number and your username and we will add it to your account.

The Search Results view has been improved to show more information about the routes. You can now change the way they are sorted by clicking a column header.

With this launch we are introducing advertisements to help support hosting and development costs. We have partnered with Lat49 who have developed an innovative method for supplying ads that are applicable to the map being viewed.

Thanks to the many people who signed up for the test version! All your data will be available in this release version. And a big thanks to all who have sent in suggestions and bug reports. Its you who make this the best darn sports mapping tool on the web!

(We have a limited supply of tech long-sleeve “keep your distance” t-shirts for $30 plus shipping)

Very soon the version 3 Beta version will be released to the public site. Many people have signed up for user accounts and we look forward to many more joining on. Thanks to everyone for their feedback!

The one feature that I am putting the final touches on is a choice for making a saved route as either public or private. Initially this will only be applicable to new routes. The ability to change existing routes will come soon.

With the new version we will be testing a new advertising engine. Please send us your feedback about this.

- Randy T.

“The ultimate tool for determining running route distances.” is what the original Digg poster said. If you are a Digg member, check it out and give us your vote.