Course analysis · road & trail
Read your course before you run it.
Drop in your GPX file. Within seconds, you see where the race will be decided: the slopes that cost you, the hardest section, the finish time your course really allows and the odds of hitting your goal.
Sample profile. Your analysis is calculated from your own file.
The reading
A raw profile hides what will cost you the race.
On a flattened curve, a 4 km false flat at 2% is invisible. You feel it at km 30. Runcon colours every metre by the effort it takes, and puts a number on what that false flat costs you: on the course above, 1 min 24 s more than flat ground at target pace.
Colour shows the effort
Seven bands, from blue (descent) to brick red (very steep climb). The thresholds adapt to the discipline: a red band doesn't mean the same gradient on road and on trail.
The course data sheet
Real elevation gain and loss, flat-equivalent distance, climbing / recovery split, hardest section. The numbers missing from the organiser's page.
Finish time, with its range
An estimate adjusted for elevation, given with its range. If you set a goal, you also see the odds of hitting it.
Features
From GPS track to race plan.
It all starts from the same file: each screen draws one more insight from it.
Coloured profile and sections
The course split into consistent sections, each with its distance, average gradient and cost. Plus, stage by stage, your estimated split times.
The course map
The route on a real map, synced with the chart: you see where each section lies.
An estimate calibrated to you
Your reference pace comes from the race times saved in your runner profile, or failing that from your one-hour pace. The model learns how you handle elevation with every race review.
Steep climbs and false flats
How many steep and very steep climbs the course has, which ones are longer than 500 m, where the uphill false flats hide: each stretch is pinpointed to the kilometre, with its length and gradient.
Pre-race briefing
A short text to read the night before: the danger zones, the toughest section, the point where half the effort is behind you. Exportable to take with you.
Course comparison
Two courses side by side, on the same scales. To choose which race to enter, or to size up a new race against one you already know.
Post-race review
Import the actual GPX of your race: the app compares it with your estimate, section by section, and fine-tunes your runner profile.
Aid stations and stages
Trail-specific gradient thresholds, aid stations, and the course split into stages between aid stations.
Your races, on computer and phone
Every course you analyse stays in My races. The same app runs in the browser for calm preparation, and on your phone to reread the briefing the night before. Your latest analysis stays available even offline.
How it works
Three steps, in order.
Each one unlocks the next.
Analyse the GPX
You drop in the file, the app reads it and shows the coloured profile, the sections and the course data sheet. Nothing to set up.
Run a time estimate
The app starts from your runner profile (a race time, or your one-hour pace) and calculates the estimate, the range and the pace for each section. A target time is optional.
Import the actual GPX
After the race, you import your actual GPX. You get your review, and the model recalibrates to you.
The file
What is a GPX, and where can you find one?
A GPX is a course's route stored in a file: a series of points, each one with its latitude, longitude and altitude. Joined end to end, these points give the path and the elevation. It's the standard format, readable by every running app, including this one.
The file name ends in .gpx.
It weighs a few hundred kilobytes, and once downloaded to your phone,
you'll find it in Files → Downloads.
<trkpt lat="48.6412" lon="-1.5109"> <ele>12.4</ele> ← altitude, in metres </trkpt> <trkpt lat="48.6415" lon="-1.5103"> <ele>12.9</ele> ← +0.5 m over 45 m: 1.1% </trkpt>
Where to find it
On the race website
It's the most reliable source: the official route, the one you'll actually run. Look for a "Course", "Practical info" or "Documents" page.
Course → Download GPXFrom Strava
To get a race that's already been recorded: yours, or a public activity. On a computer, open the activity, then the "…" menu in the left-hand column.
Activity → … → Export GPXKomoot, AllTrails, Garmin Connect
Route-planning apps all export to GPX. Open the route or course and look for the export or download button.
Route → Export → GPXIn your registration email
Many organisers attach the GPX to the confirmation email, or include the link in the race pack sent out a few days beforehand.
Attachment · .gpxNo official GPX? Draw it.
When the organiser only publishes a map as an image, you can redraw the course yourself: route-planning tools follow roads and paths automatically, and add the altitude for you.
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Open a route builder.
On Strava: My Routes → Create Route. Komoot, Garmin Connect, OpenRunner and Plotaroute do the same thing. Depending on the tool, the route builder may require a paid account. OpenRunner and Plotaroute can still be used for free.
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Click on the start, then the waypoints.
No need to trace the route to the millimetre: one click per change of direction is enough, the tool joins the points by following the road.
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Check the distance shown.
It should match the one announced by the organiser, to within a few hundred metres. A gap of a kilometre means a turn was traced wrongly.
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Save, then export as GPX.
The button is called "Export", "Download GPX" or "Send to device". That's the file you drop in here.
The complete guide to GPX files → exporting from Strava, Garmin or Komoot, finding it on your phone, and frequently asked questions.
Reliability
Where the numbers come from
An energy expenditure model
The cost of elevation is calculated slope by slope, from an energy expenditure model. That's what makes the descents as credible as the climbs.
Always a range
A GPX contains GPS noise, and a race contains the unexpected. So the estimate is given with its margin of uncertainty.
Your tracks stay yours
Explicit consent when you create your account, an accessible privacy policy, and deletion of your account and data on request.
Pricing
3 free analyses. Then €28 a year.
You start by analysing, not by paying. Your first 3 analyses are free: enough to see your course coloured, timed and reviewed before deciding whether the tool is useful to you.
When you sign up
3 analysesfree
Free. All three analyses are complete, nothing is held back.
- Coloured profile, sections and course data sheet
- Estimated finish time, with its range and split times
- Course map and pre-race briefing
- Post-race review, trail stages, My races and course comparison
After that
€28a year
That's €2.33 a month, paid in one go.
VAT not applicable, art. 293 B of the French General Tax Code (CGI).
One year of access, no automatic renewal: nothing is charged afterwards.
14-day money-back guarantee.
- Unlimited analyses for one year
- Everything included in the free analyses, on every new course
- Post-race reviews: the model recalibrates to you after every race
One single price, with access to everything. Duration, end of access, withdrawal, refunds: it's all set out in the terms and conditions of sale.
Do you already know your next race?
Create your account, drop in a GPX, and see what the profile was hiding.