The beginning of Track3D Race Planner
Published
Track3D Race Planner started with a practical problem: an ultra course is more than a distance and an average pace. A usable race plan needs the course, terrain, checkpoints, target finish, cutoffs and time stopped at aid stations to work together.
Start with the course
The original Race Planner workflow starts with a GPX file. The course provides the distance and elevation profile, while checkpoints divide the race into meaningful legs that can be planned individually.
That creates a course based planning structure rather than a spreadsheet of unrelated checkpoint times. The runner can see where each checkpoint sits on the route and how much distance and elevation lies between them.
Turn a finish target into a race plan
A target finish time can be distributed through the course to create checkpoint arrival estimates. Official checkpoint cutoffs can then be compared with the plan, making potential timing pressure visible before race day.
Planned aid station stops are included as part of the race plan rather than being ignored. Time spent stopped matters in an ultra, so the planning model separates movement through the course from the time the runner intends to spend at checkpoints.
The foundation for what followed
This first foundation became the base for later Track3D features including terrain aware pacing, Course-Aware Pacing, printable race plans, the Course Library and Track3D Crew.
The objective remains the same: turn a race course and a finish goal into information that is useful before the race and during it.