Looking for hardware options for giving live location info on while racing.
My last event, my wife was tracking me via the official app using the ankle bracelet - it was really inaccurate I think due to the elevation changes on course and when I got to T2 she said I was still on the other side of the mountain according to the tracker.
So looking at what I can use for the next race, both easily and within the rules.
I run a 955, Edge 840 combo for the bike / run at the moment. Neither of these have LTE.
I think the easiest option would be to downgrade to the 945 LTE - no additional hardware, within the rules, seamless and cheap subscription. However I did move from the 945 (non lite) to the 955 for the dual band accuracy and solar - and I notice the accuracy!
Other options are:
Apple Airtag
Cheap, but heard they are rubbish if tracking a moving object, wouldn’t show course and would be reliant on spectators having iPhones to ping off.
Apple Watch Cellular
Lightweight, means running two watches, provides ‘find my’ coverage, wouldn’t show course thou.
Garmin InReach Mini2
Expensive, another thing to carry (only 100g thou) needs sat coverage, and a recurring yearly fee + monthly usage cost. Would show course.
Small Phone
Super compact Android phone - something like the Unihertz Jelly2. Cheap(ish), another thing to carry - but against the rules? Would provide native live tracking to the 955, plus crash detection and all that.
Or is there another option / idea I haven’t thought of?
IM Rule 5.02 (c) (iii)
“Athletes may not use communication devices of any type, including but not
limited to two-way radios, cell phones, smart watches, smart helmets (i.e.,
helmets enabled with Bluetooth® technology), in any distractive manner during
the Race. A “distractive manner†includes but is not limited to making and
receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages, playing music, using
social media, taking photographs, and mounting the device to a bike for
purposes of using the device like a bike computer. Using a communication
device in a distractive manner during the Race will result in disqualification”
No rule against carriage. Just must not be looked at (eg display visible) or talked to (aka ‘used’), otherwise = DQ.
I think a few years ago, Ironman offered an optional tracking service but haven’t heard about it for a few years.
So I don’t have a suggested solution, however for years I have been wishing the pro field had tracking so commentators had positioning & pacing information instead of relying on the few cameras and timing mats. It drives me crazy when they have no insight into what is happening during the race so are left to speculating what is happening out there.
If you carry your phone while riding and running, you can leave the Garmin Connect app on and enable tracking. Your phone and watch will connect and the phone will broadcast your whereabouts. My wife did this recently for a marathon while I was home watching the spawn. It wasn’t pinpoint accurate, but within 2-3 minutes of her location.
Strava does the same sort of tracking with their Beacon feature. Can have a small cheap android phone as you mentioned (or your actual phone if you don’t care) with Beacon on. It will show you current location and your route covered up to that moment. I believe it is fairly accurate, not really even 2-3 minutes behind live if I recall correctly. Keep doing your actual tracking with the Garmin watch and bike comp. Just use the cheap android Strava device once, turn it on in T1 as a bike activity and let it run til the end. Don’t worry about trying to switch activities from bike to run at T2 on the phone, because your other devices will be doing the accurate tracking.
I realize you don’t want to downgrade, but the 945LTE is exactly what you need. Instantaneous tracking and ability to look at all of the racer’s metrics. I used it to follow my wife during her recent 70.3, and it was comforting to know EXACTLY where she was at all time, especially on a very convoluted run course so that I could cheer her on.
I ended up selling my 945LTE after getting a 965. The 965 is a huge upgrade, just wish it had LTE as well.
If you carry your phone while riding and running, you can leave the Garmin Connect app on and enable tracking. Your phone and watch will connect and the phone will broadcast your whereabouts. My wife did this recently for a marathon while I was home watching the spawn. It wasn’t pinpoint accurate, but within 2-3 minutes of her location.
She has a 945, non-LTE version.
Curious about this. Would my other be getting a feed from Garmin or from the phone (ie Find My Friends)?
On my ironman last year I took a phone with me from T1 to keep in back pocket for tracking, as I was running through transition a marshall saw me and told me to put it back or be dq’d, I told her about the specific rule above and she was having none of it. Ran back and pretended to put away but hid under my arm and managed to get past her 🤣
Was raging as it literally added 5mins to my t1, transition was 800m long 🤬
Easiest thing I’ve found if you both have a Google account is to just share location tracking through Google Maps, then they can just load the app whenever they want and see your avatar moving around
Don’t use WhatsApp location sharing as I’m pretty sure it only updates when you open your phone or open WhatsApp, which you won’t be doing
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If you carry your phone while riding and running, you can leave the Garmin Connect app on and enable tracking. Your phone and watch will connect and the phone will broadcast your whereabouts. My wife did this recently for a marathon while I was home watching the spawn. It wasn’t pinpoint accurate, but within 2-3 minutes of her location.
She has a 945, non-LTE version.
Curious about this. Would my other be getting a feed from Garmin or from the phone (ie Find My Friends)?
if you run the connect app on the phone and have it connect with BT to the watch/bike computer, you can share your activity real-time and it will be viewable on garmin website to whomever you share it with. Alternatively, you can use something like google maps (or any other location sharing app), in which case it will use the phone’s GPS for location. This will not show any stats beyond location while the garmin app also shows stats from the watch
If you carry your phone while riding and running, you can leave the Garmin Connect app on and enable tracking. Your phone and watch will connect and the phone will broadcast your whereabouts. My wife did this recently for a marathon while I was home watching the spawn. It wasn’t pinpoint accurate, but within 2-3 minutes of her location.
She has a 945, non-LTE version.
Curious about this. Would my other be getting a feed from Garmin or from the phone (ie Find My Friends)?
if you run the connect app on the phone and have it connect with BT to the watch/bike computer, you can share your activity real-time and it will be viewable on garmin website to whomever you share it with. Alternatively, you can use something like google maps (or any other location sharing app), in which case it will use the phone’s GPS for location. This will not show any stats beyond location while the garmin app also shows stats from the watch
Correct - it’s different than sharing your iPhone location, but I watched my wife on Safari, not Connect or the Garmin site (I think).
When she shared the tracking link (by text message initiated through Garmin’s system), I think it went to Safari.
I use the Garmin livetrack all of the time with a watch or computer through a phone.
The 945LTE is even better because it doesn’t require the phone. Right now my GF has it and I can see where she’s at in case she has a problem. When racing starts I will be able to predict when she’ll get back to transition.