5 Best iPhone Apps for Runners

Only a few years ago, you would have thought a simple sport like running, essentially requiring you to just place one foot in front of the other, was light years away from having anything to do with gadgets…and then there came modern technology and smartphones.

Look around you today and you’ll spot every runner sporting at least an iPod, cell phone or GPS running watch. Running has evolved into a whole new sport with technology somewhere close to its core, and Apple has amazingly wised up to this opportunity. Smartphone apps are making it easier and easier for people to track their running and if you dare say there’s an ongoing war of apps for running, then the iPhone apps are at the frontline. You’ll find apps designed to provide GPS analysis for your workouts and apps for getting an aspiring runner into fighting shape. The range is so extensive and innovative that were there to be a zombie uprising, you’d still find apps to help you get away!

1. Running Club

The Running Club is one of the most fun iPhone GPS apps to ever hit the stores. Whether you are a whimsical runner or a neurotic marathoner, it lets you schedule live and interactive runs against your family and friends across the country, delivering a very motivational and social experience. It helps the advanced runner up their speed as they re-race themselves or try to beat their friends’ times, and it helps someone who is only after getting into shape. The features include Re-Race, Ghost-Race, Pace-Race, audio cues, map route, integrated iPod, chat option and running stats.

2. iMapMyRun

With this app you find the usual dose of route, pace, distance and elevation tracking to help with your workout. However, there are two things you won’t find in just any other running app. With iMapMyRun, you can select a new route for each run from a database brimming with more than 26 million routes. Also, it keeps track of your calories- you actually get nutritional info and on those days you find yourself moving slower than usual, you can check your good days’ diet and stick to it. The app even provides an estimate of the amount you should eat as well as the necessary glasses of water. There is no other way of saying this: iMapMyRun helps boost your overall health.

3. Nike+ GPS

  

This has to be the crowning jewel of Nike’s dalliances with technology- the app has quite successfully managed to streamline everything you would ever need to do while out on a run. You can map out your routes, record your run times, have some music pumping you up, and calculate the distance, elevations and average speeds. It’s a far cry from the Nike+ run-tracking software that had you pair your iPhone or iPod with a shoe-mounted sensor, which was very restrictive of the running shoes you could wear. Now with the Nike+ GPS app, you have a record keeper, motivator and fitness guru, as well as a groovy choice of running shoes to boot. This is a very polished app whose budget price of a mere $1.99 makes it a sure winner.

4.     iSmoothRun 

  

This app may not have the ubiquity of other iPhone running apps, but it aptly makes up for the lack with a full package of ground-breaking features. iSmoothRun has all the creature comforts runners love, including data analysis, GPS tracking and workout scheduling. The whistle blowers, though, are the more unique and astounding features- it allows you to post all your athletics activities to a warehouse of various tracking sites and keep track of them on your favorite page independently, as well as track your treadmill activity. There is also cadence tracking that lets you in on your footfall pattern!

5.     Zombies, Run! 

 

If you see any zombies in your neighborhood, Zombies, Run! is the app that gives you wings to run as fast as humanly possible. Your almost-boring morning jog becomes a survival tale with this app, as numbers and stats are not the only things you are tracking; you are building a supply base and zombie chases serve as your periodic training. If you are obsessed with stats, this is the wrong app for you. However, if you hate jogging but know you must do it for the sake of your health, the guarantee of a fantastic experience is right in front of your eyes.