Frequently Asked Questions
General
What is PaceMates? PaceMates is a community platform for runners in Ireland. It helps you discover local runs, parkruns, clubs, groups, and events, connect with runners at a similar pace, follow training plans, and manage your running life in one place.
Where is PaceMates available? Right now PaceMates is focused on runners in Ireland, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Many features may still work elsewhere, but discovery and maps are optimised for Irish locations.
Who is PaceMates for? PaceMates is for anyone who runs: complete beginners, parkrun regulars, club athletes, marathoners, and casual runners who just want company once or twice a week. It's also for organisers of clubs, groups, events, and partners who support the running community.
Accounts & Profiles
Do I need an account to use PaceMates? You can browse some public pages without an account, but you need a free account to RSVP to runs, join groups or clubs, follow training plans, send messages, or manage listings.
How do I create an account? Sign up with your email address and a password. We'll send you a verification email to confirm it's really you. Once verified, you'll go through a short onboarding flow to set your profile, pace, and preferences.
What information is visible on my public profile? By default, your public profile shows your first name, initial or username, profile photo (if added), approximate location (city/county), bio, preferred pace/distance, and any public clubs or groups you're part of. You can adjust visibility for some details in Settings.
Can I change my username or email? Yes. You can update your username, email, and other profile details in the Profile → Edit section. Some usernames may be reserved or already taken.
Privacy & Safety
How does PaceMates protect my location privacy? When you upload GPS activities, we use a privacy‑trimmed version of your route and do not store your raw start/end home coordinates. Historical data is also scrubbed so we don't retain old home points. You can read full details on the Safety and Privacy pages.
What is the "Who's going" setting? The "Show me in Who's going" toggle controls whether other users can see your name in attendee lists for group runs and parkrun occurrences. If you turn it off, you can still RSVP, but your attendance will only be visible to organisers and admins.
Can I block or report someone? Yes. You can block users to stop them from contacting you and report problematic profiles, messages, runs, groups, or clubs. Our moderation team reviews reports and may warn, suspend, or remove accounts that break our guidelines.
Are parkrun and Athletics Ireland clubs officially part of PaceMates? No. parkruns and Athletics Ireland clubs are shown as community listings with clear disclaimers and links to official sites. They remain independent, and their own websites and communications are always the authoritative source for event information.
Discovery & Map
How does PaceMates decide what to show me first? Discovery uses your chosen home county/town, or saved coordinates, to calculate real distance to runs, parkruns, clubs, and groups. We sort by actual distance using your approximate location, so the closest relevant options appear first.
What can I see on the map? The map can show clubs, groups, runs, parkruns, and route popularity layers. You can toggle layers on and off, zoom to your area, and tap markers to see key details and open the full page for that run, group, or club.
I can't see anything near me — what should I do? Try widening your filters (e.g. "Any distance" or "Any day") and zooming out slightly on the map. If there's still nothing nearby, you can create a new group or run, or apply to add your club so others near you can discover it.
Clubs, Groups & parkruns
What's the difference between a club and a group?
- Clubs are organised running communities with named organisers and regular sessions. They include Athletics Ireland–affiliated clubs, brand/store clubs, and independent clubs.
- Groups are more informal or social meet‑ups like workplace crews, park meetups, or WhatsApp groups that want a bit more structure.
How do I join a club? Use the Clubs directory or Discover tab to find clubs near you, then open the club page. Some clubs allow you to request membership through PaceMates; others will direct you to their website or contact details to join.
How do I create a new club? Go to /clubs/apply and fill in the short application. You can indicate whether it's Athletics Ireland–affiliated, a brand/store club, or independent. We'll review applications before publishing to keep the directory high‑quality.
How do I create a group? Go to the Groups section and choose "Create group". You can describe your group, add a photo, set typical meeting times, and choose who can join. Groups are ideal for casual, flexible meetups.
What are parkrun community listings? Each parkrun has a community listing on PaceMates with basic details, upcoming sessions, a map, and links to the official parkrun website. These pages are clearly marked as community listings; they are not official parkrun pages.
How do I claim a parkrun or Athletics Ireland club page? If you help organise a parkrun or Athletics Ireland club, use the "Claim this page" button on the relevant profile. We'll send a secure verification link to the official public email on record. Once verified, you can update descriptions, links, and notices, upload route files, and manage how the listing appears.
Runs, RSVPs & Training
What kinds of runs can I find or create? You can find and create hosted social runs (easy, tempo, long, etc.), group runs tied to clubs or groups, and see upcoming parkrun occurrences. Runs can be one‑off or recurring.
How do RSVPs work? On a run or parkrun occurrence page, use the RSVP button to mark yourself as Going or Not Going. If your visibility setting allows, you'll appear in the "Who's going" list so others can see who they'll be running with. Organisers can view full attendee lists.
What is a training plan in PaceMates? Training plans are structured programmes for different goals and distances. When you enrol in a plan, you get a week‑by‑week schedule. You can reschedule sessions, swap them with preset alternatives, or swap them with real events like runs or parkruns.
How does the training swap with parkruns work? When you RSVP to a parkrun, we check if you have an active training plan with a session on that day. If you do, you'll see a prompt to replace that day's planned session with the parkrun, keeping your progress aligned.
GPS, Routes & Heatmap
Can I upload my own runs? Yes. You can upload GPS files (e.g. GPX/TCX) to log activities, see details, and contribute to the route popularity data. We only store privacy‑trimmed versions of your routes.
What is the "Popular routes" layer? The Popular routes layer is built from aggregated, trimmed GPS segments across many users. We identify stretches of path that are used frequently and display them as coloured lines on the map, with colour and thickness reflecting how popular they are.
Does the heatmap show exactly where I run? No. The popular route segments and heatmap tiles are aggregated and smoothed. We never expose your exact home start or end points, and individual runs are not replayable by other users unless you explicitly share an activity with them.
Messaging & Notifications
How do direct messages work? You can start a conversation from a user profile or from some run/club contexts. Messages are organised into threads. You can mute or leave threads, and block users you don't want to hear from.
What notifications will I receive? You'll get in‑app notifications for important actions like new followers, join requests, RSVP changes, messages, and updates from clubs or groups you're part of. You can manage which notifications you receive in Settings.
Do you send push notifications to my phone? At the moment, we only support in‑app notifications. Push notifications to devices are planned but not yet enabled; we'll clearly label and provide controls when they launch.
Partners, Perks & Advertising
What are Perks? Perks are partner discounts and offers for runners — e.g. local running shops, physios, coaches, or events. You can browse them in the Perks section and reveal codes when you're ready to use them.
How do partners and ads work? Partners and advertisers use a simple, credits‑based system to promote relevant offers or placements inside PaceMates. We aim for fewer, more relevant ads rather than a constant feed of generic banner ads.
Can I become a partner or advertiser? Yes. If you're a business or organiser serving runners in Ireland, you can apply through the Partner or Advertiser portals. We review applications to keep the experience relevant and non‑spammy.
Pricing & Future Features
How much does PaceMates cost? Core features — accounts, discovery, RSVPs, groups, clubs, basic training, and messaging — are free. Some future features (like premium plans or AI coaching) may be paid, but these will always be clearly labelled and optional.
What features are coming soon? We're exploring AI‑assisted coaching, premium subscription options, richer partner analytics, deeper race hub tools, and push notifications. We prefer to ship solid, usable features rather than half‑finished experiments, so we'll roll these out gradually.
Support & Feedback
I found a bug or have an idea — what should I do? You can use the feedback options in the app or contact us via the support email on our website. Screenshots and a short description of what you were doing really help.
How can I delete my account or export my data? We support GDPR data rights. You can request data export or account deletion from the Privacy / GDPR section in Settings. We'll guide you through the process and let you know what will be removed or retained for legal reasons.
How can I get in touch? Use the contact form or email listed in the app and on the website. If your message is about safety or urgent behaviour concerns, please mention that in the subject line so we can prioritise it.
If you have a question that isn't covered here, let us know — we'll answer directly and may add it to this page to help others.