Live GPS tracking for outdoor events

Run, change, and follow your event from one live map

MapCatch helps organisers publish a route, invite participants, track them with phones or GPS devices, send official updates, change the route when conditions shift, and give spectators one public link.

Phones when they are enough. Trackers when they are needed. One live event map either way.

MapCatch web live map with event route, participant list, progress, and chat
MapCatch mobile participant tracking screen with route progress
Phones first

Use participant or rented Android phones when they fit the event.

Live event changes

Update routes, places, messages, and source decisions during the event.

Trackers ready

Add GSM, SPOT, Garmin, ZOLEO, uploads, timing data, and corrections.

One public map

Spectators follow progress, standings, ETA, messages, replay, and fixes.

Event types

Built for events where location, route, and decisions matter

Pick a familiar format, then adapt the route, controls, reveal rules, tracking mix, and public story around the event you actually run.

How MapCatch works

From event setup to public live map

Build the event once, then keep it accurate as the field, route, places, weather, and devices change.

1

Create the event

Set the format, route or places, timing, participant invites, and one public link.

2

Choose the tracking mix

Use participant phones, rented Android phones, GSM trackers, satellite trackers, uploaded activities, timing data, or organiser corrections.

3

Run it live

Send official messages, change the route, switch tracking sources, handle incidents, and keep the event view aligned with reality.

4

Follow, replay, and correct

Spectators watch progress, standings, ETA, chat, and replay. Organisers can explain corrections instead of hiding them.

Why it is different

Built for events that change while they are running

MapCatch is live GPS tracking, outdoor event tracking, race tracking, and organiser control in one operational view.

Not just dots on a map

Participants see route progress, standings, messages, and event context.

The route can change with the event

Publish route edits for closures, permit changes, checkpoint moves, unsafe sections, or optional variants.

Phones first, trackers when needed

Skip hardware logistics where phones are enough. Add dedicated or satellite trackers where coverage, battery, or ruggedness matters.

One participant, many sources

Phone tracks, satellite updates, checkpoint times, uploads, and corrections stay together in one auditable timeline.

Built for organisers in the field

Manage routes, messages, participants, source changes, and result fixes without returning to a laptop.

Phone-first event control

Can I run the event from my phone?

Yes. Mobile-first organiser controls are central to MapCatch.

Change the route during the event. Publish edits for closures, permit changes, checkpoint moves, unsafe sections, or optional variants.

Send official event context. Participants can receive messages and route context in the app instead of relying on scattered chats.

Switch tracking sources. Move a participant from phone to tracker, tracker to upload, or correction to official result when reality changes.

Keep corrections transparent. Source changes and result fixes can stay explainable instead of silently rewriting the event.

Tracking options

Can I use phones, trackers, or both?

Use one source or combine several. MapCatch keeps the event picture together.

Android phone showing MapCatch tracking

Participant phones

Low logistics, rich interaction, frequent updates, route changes, and messages.

Rented Android phone for MapCatch tracking

Rented Android phones

Phone-app benefits when the organiser wants prepared hardware and predictable setup.

Compact GSM tracker

GSM trackers

Simple dedicated equipment where cellular coverage is usable.

Satellite trackers compatible with MapCatch workflows

SPOT, Garmin, ZOLEO

Remote terrain, oceans, long signal gaps, and sparse satellite updates.

Uploads, timing data, corrections

Official evidence, result context, and post-event completion.

What changes for organisers

Traditional tracker-only setup vs MapCatch phone-first event control

Traditional tracker-only setup MapCatch phone-first event control
Hardware logistics

Every participant needs a handed-out tracker.

Start with phones when suitable. Add devices only where needed.

Participant interaction

A tracker sends positions but tells the participant little.

The app can show route context, messages, and event state.

Route changes

Course edits usually sit outside the tracker view.

Publish route changes during the event.

Source fallback

A failed device often creates a gap.

Switch or combine phone, tracker, upload, timing, and correction sources.

Replay and corrections

Clean-up is often separate from the public map.

Corrections stay visible in one event timeline.

Spectator story

Followers watch dots and a leaderboard.

Spectators see progress, ETA, messages, replay, and explained changes.

Pricing

What does it cost?

Start with participant phones to reduce rental, hand-out, charging, collection, and assignment work.

Add rented phones, GSM trackers, satellite trackers, delivery, setup, or operations support only when the event needs them.

Public following

What do spectators see?

Friends, crews, families, and fans do not need an app.

They open one public live map for progress, standings, ETA, messages, replay, and corrections.

The same view can combine bikepacking tracking, trail race tracking, adventure race tracking, orienteering tracking, satellite trackers, GSM trackers, SPOT, Garmin, ZOLEO, uploads, and organiser decisions.

Trust and safety

What if coverage fails?

MapCatch improves event awareness, but it is not an emergency dispatch service and does not guarantee remote-area coverage.

Plan remote or high-risk events with suitable trackers, communications, local procedures, and support.