RaceJoy Reviews

by Moncho_25

For an activity tracker, I has too many link buttons and too many graphics that make it difficult to navigate and easy to press the wrong button. It seems that it was not designed or reviewed by a runner. I logged in and took me several seconds to find the start button. It was too small to press before the race and ridiculously small to find to stop the race tracker while running. Once I finished, it was not intuitive at all to submit my time for my virtual race which btw, after I logged in, keep asking me to sign up or donate with very, very annoying pop-up banner.

In addition to all that, it never traced my progress in the map. It tracked my 5k, however, the dot marking my location never moved, and it shows like I did the 5k jogging in place!

Several days after the race and after I saw my name in the participants’ list with bib, positions and times, a pop-up showed indicating that the auto submission did not work. Ultimately, I don’t know if my race organizers have my numbers. What a headache:(

Sorry, not very user friendly:( I am not using it again. It’s awful and needs a lot of improvements.

by Mechanical Engineer7379

Ran the same race next to my significant other. Started RaceJoy at the exact same time. both have latest iphones. I physically beat her by about 6 seconds, but RaceJoy gave her a finish time 50 seconds sooner, so it doesn’t function as a race timer. and it was only a 5k, so that’s a huge margin of error.

Also, they feed you ads while you race. We just watched a Netflix documentary about ads on social media, and this one is extra creepy. Think about it. While you’re endorphins are high, and you are in state of thinking you deserve a reward if you finish strong, RaceJoy is yelling at you to buy stuff. Gross. Instantly deleted after race.

by 71857

Horrible! Got this for the Pittsburgh marathon, and as soon as the race started the whole app flat-lined. Not only were there no GPS updates (which I paid $3 for to put on 3 phones), but RaceJoy wouldn't function at all. I had perfect 4g service and was able to use other apps, so it wasn't my phone. If they are going to promote this for use in a race of this scale, then they should but some reasonable servers behind the thing. One star is too generous. What an embarrassment, I want my money back.

Update: gave this another try for the '18 Toledo marathon. Still useless. I got all the split notifications after the race was already over. You'd think they would've improved this in 3 years. Luckily it's free now.

by Shep647942

I downloaded this for a marathon relay that I did. For the two weeks I had it on my phone, I thought I needed to get a battery replacement, even though I wasn’t leaving tracking turned on (but it’s hard to tell.) It’s also difficult to know how to navigate to the screen you are looking for. Setting up our relay team required following directions sent from the race promoter AND multiple rounds of trial and error.

That said, tracking my teammates on the course worked when the teammate didn’t get confused trying to start the race leg in RaceJoy .

by Allirunner

Love the tracking, love that anyone can follow and send audible cheers throughout the run, however don’t love that the person has to have RaceJoy to be tracked. May as well just sign up for basic race texts or use find my friends and skip RaceJoy .
Not everyone carries their iPhone or has space for an additional app. I’m sure that if RaceJoy is sanctioned by the race, it can track the bib chip not the phone.
The worst thing about RaceJoy is that you actually have to physically hit start when you begin running. A previous relay I was on, we all didn’t realize this until it was too late, so RaceJoy was basically useless.
I don’t get why the gps that has to be constantly running, draining your battery, can’t just track your whereabouts on its own. In a world where we track our mileage on watches, and listen to music...do I really need ANOTHER thing to start when I begin my race??
No...better off using find my friends app or something you already have. The negatives outweigh the positives for me.

by Theyjsi

While my spectators enjoyed it, RaceJoy was NOt good for me while running a hard marathon . Too many words on my watch screen to read while racing- I would much rather just see my mile splits from my GPS.

And two screens to scroll through at each mile while racing? No way! It was a hindrance and irritation during my marathon. Also,
Why not just activate From my chip? Who wants to be fumbling with their phone as
They cross the start line?? Not me! And you really can’t figure out how it works before you race - I would have deactivated all texts to me if I had known

by Quarterclay

This is my first use of this app app, it only reported my position on the course one time to my wife and reported my Finish to her about an hour after race was finished, I believe we had it all set right but not for sure.. also normally my phone uses about 25% of my battery during a two hour run, during this event it used 85% battery, I believe if I had of run the full marathon instead of the half it would not have lasted to the end of the race... not sure I will use again but I believe in second chances...

by Sophia Pass

I did the virtual Hemingway paddle board and 5k through RaceJoy. It was a little tough to navigate but I loved that throughout the race RaceJoy would give you progress updates on mileage and time, especially out on the water. The 5k portion didn’t see to give you the option to track your own route and it acted like you were downtown key west doing it, with progress updates. overall, nice app but hopefully next year we’ll be able to do this event in person again.

by Alphamkb

I just ran my first 15k last weekend. I liked how it did keep up the distance and all. It was pretty close. The only problem I noticed with notifications is that there was a delay. I had my phone in my zipper belt and had Bluetooth ear buds and it would show up on my Apple Watch. But the cheer didn’t come through earbuds right away. So I had to pull phone out and look for the cheers. I had Lot more cheers then I actually heard through sound Of that can be fixed I would love to use it again with my Route66 marathon coming up Nov 18th.

by CG-05

I enjoyed RaceJoy not only for the accurate updates as I listened to music, but most of all for my family being able to cheer me on and send custom messages as I ran. Each time a different one would come in for my kids I would choke up. I ran this half marathon three states away from our home and it was nice to know they were still there virtually supporting me.

by Mbm5094

I used RaceJoy for the Pittsburgh Marathon. It was my first time using it and I loved it! I appreciated the real-time updates for myself and the family and friends that were cheering me on. I didn’t even use the other apps I typically train with. I felt I got everything I needed right within this app. My friends and family did mention that RaceJoy seemed to be less accurate as I approached the finish line from a GPS perspective. That’s my only “improvement opportunity”. Thanks! I hope more races start using RaceJoy !

by Linkmon99

I used it during the marathon I ran yesterday. It was really cool to get split times and estimated finish times, and to allow my friends to track it as well. Unfortunately the splits sometimes did not match up with the mile markers on the course, and the estimated finish times would jump around a ton because of this. Not sure if it’s the apps fault, my iPhone X, or the marathon bib I had, but just wanted to put that out there. Other than that it’s a really cool app and experience!

by Momofthree.

Thought RaceJoy was great. I especially loved the mile updates and predicted finish time based on pace. Helped me kick it into high gear and beat the predicted finish time in the last two miles. My family cheered me on from home and their cheers were a great inspiration to keep going. The only downfall was that during the race I kept getting notices saying I wasn’t being tracked (but was), and not all the cheers came through audio (but I could see them in RaceJoy ).

by COmom720

This was a great app for tracking. I loved getting my split times and estimated finish as I was running. Hubby was able to send cheers along the way and had an easy time finding me on the course.
I was worried about battery usage. Ran half in 1:47. Played music and had tracking going the entire time. Still had 90% battery when I finished.
Easy to set up as a runner and easy for my spectators to use.

by Hnmmmm

Tried this for the first time on a half marathon yesterday and it was fun getting all the “cheers” and personal notes. I had turned off progress alerts because I also was using MapMyRun simultaneously.

Wish there was a way for them to send personalized audio clips rather than “text to cheer” which sounded very robotic and hard to understand. Either way it made my race a lot more fun.

Highly recommend!!

by Rob On The Trails

I just used RaceJoy at Burning River 100. My crew found it indispensable throughout the event to see real time progress and know exactly where I was. The updates every mile kept me on goal and helped me deliver against my plan as it did the thinking for me on pace and estimated times. The cheers changed the game for me and really helped me through some tough moments. Friends and family watching from afar were ale to send me encouraging words to lift my spirits, jokes to make me laugh and funny riddles to get my mind off the pain!
I hope every event I ever do again uses RaceJoy!
Thank you immensely!

by TrevorBeck32

I just used this during the Boilermaker 15k. It was very nice to have the mile updates that were accurate and it’s nice to be able to check out after completing a race. I have to admit I only set it up while waiting for the race to start, so I didn’t play with it and familiarize myself enough to really use it to its full potential. Even still, it was great to have. I wish every race I participate in would have this. I will take the time to become more familiar with it now. I will have a look through it and if it lists future races that use it I will be trying to exclusively run in races that do use race joy.

by Chase Izahn

I ran my first virtual race, due to the social distancing fad, and decided to try the Run Anywhere feature from this app that was being offered. I didn’t have the other runners to keep me running, but having this app shouting out mile markers, pace, and splits helped to keep me motivated.

Plus the cheers it played along the way was a nice alternative, since there were no actual spectators yelling and holding signs.

I think that the soothing robotic voices in RaceJoy will also help me to become accustomed to the inevitable robot uprising that will likely happen in the autumn of 2020, making for a less traumatic transition into that new norm.

by Trail Hound

I used this app at the Wineglass Marathon. It was ideal for keeping my husband updated on my progress so he could get to the finish in time, and I found out later that several other running friends were tracking me. So they knew my results as soon as I did! The cheers I received were a lot of fun, too, although I didn’t see most of them until afterward because I had turned off the audio splits (I didn’t want to stress too much over my pace). I was listening to music on iTunes, through Bluetooth headphones. It would be great if cheers could still get through the audio, even if splits are turned off.

by AcceptableCPup

This was seriously such an amazing app!!! I ran my first half marathon today, and no one in my family was able to make it to the race, but with RaceJoy , they got to cheer me on anyway! And most of them made me laugh out loud! Other runners were looking at me like I was crazy. I loved the mile updates, too. They kept me on track and motivated. It turned what could have been a long hard race into something that I was able to have fun with and enjoy. Thanks this app!