gps accuracy? thoughts...

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MrsC160
MrsC160 Posts: 85 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a friend who has just taken up jogging. I have done a few 5 k's this year so she has turned to me for advice. Today she asked a question and I have no idea the answer...

So what are your thoughts...

She originally drove the route around her neighborhood in her car. It’s showed the route to be 1.4 miles.

I suggest she download a running app. She is now using mapmyfitness. The app shows the same route to be 1.9 miles.

Which is more accurate?

Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Impossible to tell from a distance, without seeing the data. Is the running route *exactly* the same as the driving route? Is the car running the correct sized tires?

    There are a million possible explanations for the difference...
  • FrnkLft
    FrnkLft Posts: 1,821 Member
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    Yeah that's a fairly large disparity... she measured it wrong. Seeing as how she's not so accurate on a computer, I would just trust the car. At the end of the day, what's the difference anyhow? She's just starting.
  • jaygreen55
    jaygreen55 Posts: 315 Member
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    There's an excellent website/app that will give you the exact distance you covered. Go to gmap-pedometer.com enter the zipcode or city in question and map out hte route you ran.
  • Fkika3131
    Fkika3131 Posts: 208 Member
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    Tell her to buy the sports watch :) Cheap ones will tell you the time you've run and how many calories you have lost so far.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
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    Depends on the phone
    Depends on the car
    Depends on if she drove EXACTLY where she was carrying the phone.

    But, all things equal, the car is closer to the real distance.

    If she really wants to know...
    23129_700x700.jpg
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    I found MapMyWalk to be fairly inaccurate. I would assume MapMyFitness would use the same method. I've found RunKeeper to be more accurate.
  • MrsC160
    MrsC160 Posts: 85 Member
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    Thanks everyone -

    She is joining me in a 5k this december and her goal is to be able to finish 45 minutes which is why she wants her training distance to be as accurate as possible.

    I will pass along all this information and even use some of it myself.

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