Using the MapRun app:
Download MapRun from your preferred app store (eg Google Play or the APP store). MapRunF or MapRun6 will still work if you already have that.
Click on Select Event: Canada – Alberta – Edmonton – name of event.
Press go to start; map and course will appear.
Check that it is the right map/course before you leave home!
If you get a list of changing numbers, tap the waving flag symbol.
Close the app. The icon for the app is a green square with the letter M & numeral 6 in it.
If you have data, you can wait until you get to Blackfoot to download the course.
When you get to the park, open the app. At this stage you can change the punch tolerance in the options and settings. 10 metres will be good for city parks (needs to be done every time). Click on Go to start
Before
you go to the start triangle, it might be good to give your phone time
to find some satellites.
The green panel across the bottom will indicate what level of satellites your
phone has found.
The app. does NOT use data while you are on the course. You can
turn off data (many phones work better without data on). Turn off
Bluetooth, too.
Approach and walk through the start triangle. The phone will beep/tone at the start, at each control, and at the finish. Each will turn green on the phone map as you reach them. If you are doing a scatter O or Score O, avoid going back through the start/finish until you HAVE finished.
If
you have a printed copy of the map, you can put your phone in your
pocket with the sound turned ON. (You will hear the phone beep, but it
will be easier to read the paper map.) This will save your battery,
too.
Results
After you have gone through the finish, you will be able to see your track. When you get back home to WiFi, open the app and click on ‘show results’. Select the event you just did, click ‘all results for this event’.
If your name is there, you are good. If your name is not there, go back one page. Choose menu (three bars, top right corner) Select Upload (Manual).
If you do this, we will know how many people have done the course (and the organizers will know whether it is worth doing more of them!).
Click on show details for your split times. If you did not use MapRun please email Marilyn to let her know what you did (and with whom)
GPS
The app works on GPS, which is not super accurate. Sometimes you will get the notification when you are approaching a control location; sometimes you might have to wait up to 30 seconds. Try turning round on the spot. If nothing happens, just go on to the next control, the same as you would if a ribbon was missing. GPS has problems in the trees and on slopes.
GPS seems to work better on a sunny clear day.
For improved performance, try turning off data (as the app does not use it); try waiting a few minutes after clicking Go to Start, and before actually going through the triangle.
Emergency BAIL OUT (especially for forest events)
If you are lost /do not know where you are, you can:
Click on home (little house) and then exit.
Click on Go to Start.
Stand
still for a little while. A red dot will appear to show you where you
are (perhaps you will have to zoom out to see it). You will now be able
to head back to the finish, either the shortest way or by finishing the
course and you will be able to see your track as you go. If you do all
of the controls, you will be DNF’d (did not finish) but when you upload
your results, you will see splits for the controls you found before
bailing out.
Control description document Scroll to page 18 for sketches of each location and the matching piece of map.