Map Terms And Privacy

Terms Of Use

This tracker displays race courses, phone GPS observations and timing information. Phone GPS and projected positions are approximate. Published chip timing determines official results.

Google Maps features are subject to the Google Maps Additional Terms Of Service. Google’s attribution and map controls are part of the map display. The Trails view loads topographic map imagery from USGS The National Map.

Privacy

Participants start race tracking in NET RUNNER after choosing their race, granting location permissions and agreeing to share their location. Opening the spectator map does not start location tracking on the spectator’s phone.

Adult App Access

The initial public NET RUNNER app release is intended for adults age 18 and older. Starting with version 1.0.20, the app asks for an age declaration before race selection, registration setup or automatic crash reporting. The declaration stays in secure storage on the phone; no date of birth, identity document or age-declaration value is sent to NET. This is self-attestation, not verified identity or age. Declaring an age under 18 blocks app access and stops previous tracking on that phone. Known under-18 registrations cannot start tracking or recording in this version. Earlier pilot builds do not contain this age gate. The usual race waiver does not establish parental consent for a child’s public GPS sharing.

While tracking is active, spectators can see the runner’s name, bib when assigned, latest usable GPS location, accuracy, update time and estimated course progress, race elapsed time, overall pace and finish estimate. Older observations are labelled as last known locations and are hidden after ten minutes without a fresh fix. This tracker stores the latest usable location and a small progress summary rather than a history of the walk or run. When GPS updates stop, last-known distance, pace and finish estimates remain visible with their update time while the tracking session remains active. Elapsed time can continue from the known start. After ten minutes the map position and its location link are hidden, while these timestamped statistics remain available without coordinates. New updates replace them; stopping, revoking or expiring the session ends the active stats feed. GPX mile markers and GPS progress are approximate. GPS overall pace uses the runner’s chip start when available, otherwise the gun start. Elapsed time continues through GPS gaps; course distance, pace and finish estimates remain based on the last reliable observation. Uncertain course matches or missing start times can make estimates unavailable. These estimates do not replace official results. Stop Tracking removes the shared location when the phone can reach NET; an offline stop can leave the last marker visible for up to ten minutes plus a brief feed-cache delay. Expired location/session records are eligible for deletion 24 hours after expiry, processed by scheduled maintenance when configured or the next active-site maintenance sweep. When a participant stops or completes tracking, a small unofficial summary containing start/end times, distance and completion state remains public until 24 hours after the event window. It contains no coordinates or route history. A manual stop is labelled partial; GPS results remain unofficial. No live route history is stored; challenge verification is described below. Stop/reset/disable removes the latest stored location immediately; expired sessions, a closed race window and completed timing records also remove it from the public GPS feed.

Uploaded GPX course geometry is displayed on the race’s public map. Registration names and optional city, state and bib support public runner lookup. Age and gender are returned after enrollment or an authenticated session refresh. Runner selection is self-attested and does not verify identity. A random device connection key and authenticated session token link the phone to the selected registration; NET stores hashed credentials rather than exposing them on the public map. Phone connection tokens and private registration IDs are not included in the spectator GPS feed. App requests to NET use HTTPS.

Standalone Activity Tracking

You can start a live activity without a race registration after agreeing to location sharing. Anyone with the activity link can see your latest usable location and update time. NET stores only the latest location and hashed access keys. Locations are hidden after ten minutes without a fresh fix. Stop Tracking removes the shared location when the phone connects, and activity links expire after 24 hours. The activity route and statistics stay on your phone until you choose to share them.

Spectator Location

Options lets you opt in to showing your own location as a blue You marker. Your browser asks for location permission. NET does not upload, store or publish this spectator location, add it to runner counts, or record a route. Turn Off My Location stops updates and removes the marker. Closing the page also stops updates. Location can be approximate or unavailable, and older positions disappear after two minutes without a current fix. Switching contests within the same event keeps your current choice; reloading the page turns the feature off.

When Google Maps loads, the browser connects to Google for map content. Centering the street map on your location requests map content for that area from Google. Google may process browser, network and map-use information under the Google Privacy Policy. The course diagram remains available when Google Maps is unavailable.

Automatic Race Tracking

Enable Automatic Tracking is optional and requires the participant to confirm before GPS monitoring begins. While armed, the phone uses location locally to detect forward movement near the course start after the scheduled gun time. Locations are not sent to NET before that start is detected. A detected course finish stops tracking and removes the shared position. Detection is approximate and depends on course data, accuracy and continued background GPS access. Force-closing the app can interrupt tracking. The participant can stop at any time, and manual Start Tracking remains available. Automatic tracking does not save a private route recording unless Enable Automatic Run Recording is also enabled.

NET Challenge Events

NET Challenges are optional GPS activities for adults 18 and older. Registration asks for your first name, last initial and email. SMTP2GO processes your email address and verification message to deliver a code. It also delivers review alerts to NET containing your first name, last initial, course, result summary and the reason a run needs review. Your email is private and is used for verification and profile recovery. Marketing emails require a separate optional choice. NET stores your profile until you delete it in NET Challenges → My Attempts or request removal.

Starting a challenge requires agreement to public tracking and uploading your recorded route for course verification. NET checks route timestamps, start, finish, course coverage and GPS quality. Earlier app versions submit routes for in-memory verification and retain only the attempt summary, course version, result and review history. With complete Challenge recording backup enabled, the app automatically uploads the saved GPS recording when connected, including incomplete or failed-check runs. NET privately stores the complete route, timestamps, phone-reported distance and validation report for authorized NET review. The review screen distinguishes recorded distance from distance accepted by validation. Raw recordings are not published on the leaderboard or spectator map. They remain until NET deletes the run or the participant deletes their Challenge profile; deletion cleanup is retried if storage is temporarily unavailable. You can also request removal by emailing newenglandtiming@gmail.com. Your first name, last initial, time and completion date may appear on the public unofficial GPS leaderboard. Only your best qualifying attempt per course version is ranked. These results are approximate and cannot guarantee the absence of GPS errors or falsified device data. Incomplete or questionable attempts need NET review. Attempts are limited to 24 hours with up to 24 additional hours for upload; unfinished uploads remain on your phone until submitted or deleted. Deleting a challenge profile removes its email and name, revokes access and withdraws its public results. Pseudonymous attempt and accounting audit records may remain.

Course Personnel Invitations

Race directors may enter optional personnel email addresses and phone numbers to send event setup invitations. NET uses SMTP2GO to process these contact details and send app download and GPS setup instructions. Contact details are visible only to NET staff and holders of the protected event director link, not public spectators. Invitations are transactional and do not subscribe personnel to marketing. Text messaging is sent only when configured; reply STOP to opt out. Delivery records retain contact hashes and provider acceptance status; an accepted message is not proof of delivery.

Optional Run Recording And Sharing

Enable Automatic Run Recording is a separate opt-in for each run. It saves the recorded GPS route, timestamps, distance, pace, mile splits, race name and participant name in the app on your phone. The recorded route history is not uploaded to NET for ordinary races. Challenge routes are uploaded for verification only after the challenge consent described above. Live tracking continues to publish your latest location under the existing tracking consent. The app keeps up to ten ordinary or confirmed-backed-up recordings; unconfirmed Challenge uploads are excluded from automatic cleanup. Explicit deletion, uninstalling or clearing app data can still remove a recording before it uploads. Reopen NET RUNNER while connected to retry pending uploads. A confirmed backup is shown as Recording Backed Up To NET; validation or leaderboard approval is a separate decision. You can delete a recording in My Race → Review And Share My Run. Uninstalling the app or clearing its data removes local recordings; device backup settings may also apply.

Automatic recording requires manual or automatic tracking to be enabled. Start detection uses accurate forward movement near the downloaded course start after its published gun start; missing course or start information requires manual start. Automatic finish requires course progress and a GPS finish-line crossing. Missing GPS, stops, shortcuts and course errors can produce partial recordings or incomplete distance. These GPS statistics are approximate and unofficial and do not change official chip results.

Share My Run opens the phone share menu with a route image and caption. The image includes UNOFFICIAL GPS RESULTS and the NET website address, and the caption includes a clickable NET link. Some social apps omit captions. Review the route before sharing because it may reveal places you visited. Nothing is posted to social media until you choose a destination and complete its sharing process. The selected service controls handling and retention of the shared information. A temporary image is prepared in app cache for the sharing process.

Tracker Usage Records

NET retains pseudonymous activation records for event participation reporting and billing evidence after live tracking sessions and locations expire. Records include an opaque audit reference, event and contest, server-recorded activation and stop times, tracking-window dates, course version and distance, test/recovered status, and staff billing decisions with reasons. The retained ledger contains no runner names, bibs, GPS coordinates, private recorded routes, phone credentials or IP addresses. Repeat tracking sessions with a matched participant identity count as one unique activation per contest. NET staff can export usage records and create retained statements for accounting support. These records are not removed by Stop Tracking, routine session cleanup or disabling a race. For questions or requests about retained usage records, contact newenglandtiming@gmail.com.

PHOTO FINISH

PHOTO FINISH is an optional Android tool for race timing crews. Opening its capture screen requests camera permission. It captures still race photos, capture timestamps, bib-number candidates, the selected race and timing point, and a random phone connection identifier. Bib recognition runs on the phone using bundled text recognition. It does not record audio or provide face recognition. Ordinary runner tracking does not require PHOTO FINISH or camera access.

The app saves captures in private phone storage so work can continue offline. When connected, it uploads photos and timing metadata to NET over HTTPS for bib matching, staff review, duplicate checks and timing delivery. NET uses Cloudflare storage and database services to process this information. Uploaded photos are accessible through protected NET timing-staff tools; they are not published in the spectator dashboard. Accepted bib numbers, timestamps and timing-point reads are sent to the configured RACE RESULT event for timing and scoring.

Saved photos and timing records do not have an automatic deletion schedule. Local captures remain in app storage until that data is removed; clearing app data or uninstalling does not delete photos already uploaded to NET. To request deletion of NET-held timing photos or records, contact newenglandtiming@gmail.com with the event and approximate capture time. NET will verify the request and explain any timing, accounting or dispute records that must be retained. Do not email phone connection tokens or other credentials.

App Diagnostics

NET RUNNER uses Sentry for automatic technical crash reporting when configured. Starting with version 1.0.20, reporting initializes only after an adult age declaration is saved; earlier pilot versions initialized it at startup. Reports contain technical errors, stack traces, app version and build, operating system and device information, and a short list of technical event codes. NET does not add runner names, bibs, location coordinates or phone connection tokens to crash reports. Screenshots, session recordings and routine network logs are disabled. Sentry processes diagnostic submissions under the Sentry Privacy Policy.

The phone keeps up to 40 recent technical diagnostic entries for up to seven days. Share Diagnostics opens the phone’s share menu with a report containing app/build, permission and connection status, queued location count, GPS accuracy and the age of the last fix and upload. The report excludes coordinates, runner identity and credentials. You choose its recipient. Starting with version 1.0.23, shared diagnostics can also include local battery samples, phone model, charging and Low Power Mode state, recording/audio settings, sampled monitoring time and an observed whole-phone battery-use rate when enough unplugged data exists. Battery snapshots use existing tracking callbacks, stay local until shared and expire after seven days. They are not an estimate of remaining runtime. Send Test Report sends a technical test error to NET’s Sentry project without crashing the app or changing tracking.

Delete Your Challenge Account

NET RUNNER challenge participants can delete their profile in the app under 01 Race → Challenges → My Attempts → Delete Challenge Profile. To request account deletion without the app, email newenglandtiming@gmail.com with the subject “Delete NET Challenge Account” from the email address used for your challenge profile. Include your first name and last initial; do not send a password, verification code or phone connection token. NET will confirm ownership through your email before completing the request.

Deletion removes the stored challenge email and name, revokes profile access and live tracking sessions, removes public runner lookup entries and locations, and withdraws your challenge leaderboard results. Pseudonymous attempt and accounting audit records may be retained for disputes and billing with no automatic expiry; they no longer contain your name or email. Saved run routes on your phone must be deleted in the app or by clearing its local data. You can also request deletion of specific NET-held personal data without deleting the account by emailing the same address.

Data Requests

To request removal of NET-held runner lookup information, a live location, an unofficial GPS summary or diagnostic data, email newenglandtiming@gmail.com with the event and the information you want removed. Do not send passwords, phone connection tokens or an identity document. NET will verify the request and coordinate with the event organizer when necessary. Private route recordings are stored on your phone and must be deleted there. Pseudonymous usage records needed for accounting and disputes have no automatic expiry and may be retained after personal location and session data expire. NET can explain applicable retention when responding to a request.

Questions about NET RUNNER location sharing can be sent to newenglandtiming@gmail.com.