How to Use RaceCraft
RaceCraft helps you plan your race from start to finish — including pacing, checkpoint timings, fuel, and hydration. No spreadsheets or guesswork required.
This guide walks you through each step in plain language.
What You'll Need
- Your race route as a GPX file (most race organisers provide this, or download from Strava/Garmin/Coros)
- Your checkpoint locations (distances in kilometres from the start)
- A rough idea of your race pace and nutrition plan
Step 1 — Load Your Route
At the top of the planner, you have two options:
Option A — Upload a GPX file Click "Choose GPX file" and select the GPX file from your device. RaceCraft will automatically read the distance, elevation, and profile of your route.
Option B — Load a Known Race Click "Load Known Race" to choose from a library of popular race routes. No GPX file needed.
Once loaded, a summary of your route (distance, elevation gain/loss) will appear below the upload button.
Tip: If your GPX file contains waypoints (e.g., aid stations), RaceCraft will detect them and offer to import them as checkpoints automatically.
Step 2 — Set Your Checkpoints
Checkpoints are the aid stations or drop bag locations along your route.
- Number of Checkpoints — Enter how many checkpoints your race has (up to 30).
- Avg CP Stop Time — How long you expect to spend at each checkpoint (in minutes). This is added to your total race time.
- Checkpoint Distances — Enter the distance from the start to each checkpoint in kilometres.
Example: If your checkpoints are at 15 km, 30 km, and 50 km, enter those distances in order.
Step 3 — Terrain Difficulty (Optional)
If your race involves varied terrain, enabling this section gives you more accurate pace predictions.
- Tick the box to enable terrain difficulty adjustments.
- Technical Skill Level — How comfortable are you on rough terrain? Choose from Conservative (you slow down a lot on technical ground) through to Elite (barely slowed at all).
- Default Terrain Type — Select the terrain that best describes most of your race (e.g., Smooth Trail, Rocky Runnable, Technical Trail). You can set different terrain types for each segment if needed.
If you're running a road race or a smooth trail, you can skip this section entirely.
Step 4 — Pacing
This is where you tell RaceCraft how fast you plan to race.
Choose a Pacing Mode
Base Pace (recommended for most athletes) You enter your comfortable flat-terrain pace and RaceCraft calculates your finish time based on elevation, terrain, fatigue, and fitness.
Target Time You enter your goal finish time and RaceCraft works backwards to figure out how you need to pace each segment to hit it.
Base Pace: How to Enter Your Pace
Option 1 — Manual Entry Enter your flat-terrain pace in minutes and seconds per kilometre (e.g., 6:30 min/km). This is the pace you'd aim for on a flat road at a steady, sustainable effort.
Option 2 — From Performance Don't know your pace? Enter a recent race result (e.g., a 10K in 55 minutes) and RaceCraft will estimate your appropriate pace for this race distance.
Other Pacing Settings
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Climbing Ability | How fast you climb. Conservative = slower uphill (600 m/h), Elite = fast climber (1500 m/h). Most trail runners sit between Moderate and Strong. |
| Include Fatigue Penalty | Ticked by default. Your pace naturally slows later in the race — this models that effect. |
| Fitness Level | Affects when fatigue kicks in. Recreational athletes feel it earlier than trained or elite athletes. |
| Race Start Time | Optional. Enter your start time (e.g., 06:00) to see expected arrival times at each checkpoint. |
Step 5 — Nutrition
Enter your fuelling targets for the race.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Carbs per Hour (g) | How many grams of carbohydrate you plan to consume each hour. 60g is a common starting point for most athletes. Trained guts can handle 90g+. |
| Water per Hour (mL) | How much fluid you aim to drink each hour. 500 mL is a reasonable default — adjust for heat and sweat rate. |
| Carbs per Serving (g) | Optional. If you know how many carbs are in each gel/bar/sachet, enter it here and RaceCraft will tell you how many servings to pack in each drop bag. |
Step 6 — Calculate Your Race Plan
Click the "Calculate Race Plan" button.
RaceCraft will generate:
- Summary cards — Total distance, elevation, estimated finish time, and moving time
- Elevation profile chart — Your route with checkpoint markers
- Segment breakdown table — Pace, time, and distance for each segment between checkpoints
- Drop bag contents table — Carb and hydration targets for each checkpoint
Step 7 — Save and Export
Once you're happy with your plan:
- Save Plan — Saves your plan so you can come back and adjust it later. Sign in with a free account to sync across devices.
- Export — Use the menu (the three-dot icon in the top right) to export your plan as a CSV (for spreadsheets) or PDF (for printing or sharing with your crew).
Tips
- Adjust and recalculate freely — Change any setting and hit Calculate again. There's no limit.
- Save multiple versions — Create separate plans for your A, B, and C goal paces.
- Draft is auto-saved — If you close the browser by accident, RaceCraft will offer to restore your last session when you return.
- Dark mode — Use the menu icon (top left) to switch between light, dark, and auto themes.
Questions?
Visit the About or Documentation pages from the navigation menu for more detail on how the models work.