Live Race Mode

[Shant]

I think Live Race Mode (for running, cycling, triathlons, and other endurance sports) will be a great addition to Strava.

This is important because:

• Live Race Mode is basically like the Mario Kart map that shows everyone on the course.
• We have the choice from a privacy pov to share our location live with friends and family running the race or spectating the race
• Live Race Mode feature will connect me with other runners who have turned on race mode and allow me to follow elite athletes and see who is close by. Spectators and runners can cheer each other on by name
• Anyone can watch a replay of the race selecting or deselecting all athletes in the race who have chosen to share live race mode at 2x / 3x / 4x speed afterward instead of just the 50 closest athletes at the start of the race

An example of when I would want this feature is during any marathon or track racing event. 

Thank you Strava! 

[Shant]

What: Strava can partner with race directors for 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, marathons, centuries, Tour De France, swimming, Olympics, etc. to show a live racing map and ranking during a race.

How: This would be just like a Mario Kart map at the bottom screen and can be used for navigation or tracking. The racers who use their phones should be able to open Strava, see a map of the race, see their ranking in the top right, and see their face icon moving along the map. The spectators who use their phones or laptops should be able to open Strava, see a map of the race, see the people they are tracking live. It would also be cool for family and friends to also see the athlete's current speed/HR if you click on the athlete’s face icon (if the athlete has set this setting to public).

Why: This will increase the usage of the app during races by both participants and the general public. Even if my family and friends are not able to see me race in a different city, they can track me live through Strava.

Example from Garmin: Garmin has a feature that allows live tracking if the athlete shares with their family member or friend.

[Soren]

Thanks for submitting your idea to implement a live race mode. It has been reviewed by our moderation team and is now open to voting.

[Wayneruns]

This would be a brilliant feature, and just that feature alone would be worth the whole subscription to me.
I really enjoy dot watching ultras and commenting along with other watchers but at the moment it’s not really accessible, I need to watch on a certain website and flick through multiple different social media communities.
Anytime I am competing in an ultra I will post my garmin live track to Facebook and many people enjoy watching but it would be amazing if this was built into Strava.

it seems like it would be quite easy if they just worked with the likes of garmin and suunto as no need to work with any independent tracker companies and Strava already have the comment and mapping resources.

[Silentvoyager]

This isn't feasible considering that most Strava athletes, especially serious ones, record activities with dedicated devices. At a minimum you'd be asking each person participating in this live race mode to carry a phone. How many people would want that? Once LTE on fitness watches becomes more common this feature could become feasible but only if all watch brands participate. 

[Shant]

@Silentvoyager I agree it would take some time to have correct devices for all. It wouldn’t give full picture of race unless everyone had it. I run with both Garmin 935 and my iPhone.

Still will be cool for followers to see if the user has the right device and feature enabled.  

Garmin already started offering LTE features in 945 as well and has the LiveTracking feature built in.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=HbqxxbiBGA3mDhlLX4GUw8

[Jane]

Hi Shant!

We wanted to let you know that your idea submission from January of 2023 will be archived. While this idea is interesting, we don’t have any immediate plans to implement this and currently aren’t able to prioritize this idea.

Please note that your feedback is valuable to Strava. As stated in our Community Idea Guidelines, we receive many idea submissions each week, and realistically, there may be various reasons that prevent us from including an idea on our Product Roadmap.  

We want to thank you for taking the time to submit your idea and we look forward to your continued contributions to the Strava Community.