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How accurate is the GPS tracker on Charge 4

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‎05-29-2023 04:17

‎05-29-2023 04:17

Hi All

I completed my first half marathon yesterday and crossed the line with an average 5'57 per km pace, thinking I was reasonably close to the 2 hour mark. After the busy processing after the finish line I was a bit disappointed to learn that my time was 2 hours and 9 minutes, this gave me a pace of 6'06 per km. 

Maybe I was being too reliant on the pace accuracy of the tracker as I set my pace during the race to come in under the 6 min per km mark. The distance covered shows I ran 21.9 km rather than the standard 21.1 km of a half-marathon. 

Can anyone shed light on this and has anyone experienced something similar in the past? It will also be good to know what others have done in their runs to maybe get round the same issue. 

Thanks 🙂 

 

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‎05-29-2023 05:38 - edited ‎05-29-2023 08:33

‎05-29-2023 05:38 - edited ‎05-29-2023 08:33

@Indo74   No GPS receiver maps with pinpoint accuracy.  Not even military grade.  Your mapped point is somewhere in a circle that might have a radius as large as 5 m.  This is a technology limitation.  I don't think there is a runner on the planet whose GPS mapped distance matches a marked marathon or half marathon distance.  Your mapped accuracy is MUCH better than my Sense 2 map accuracy.

There is another thing I want to point out.  For example, a US Track and Field certified race uses the shortest possible distance to map a course.  Not the middle of the road, but using every inside turn.  If your course was mapped this way, then your distance can be longer if you didn't hug the turns.

All in all, I think the fact that your distance was off by 0.8 km is very impressive.

Community Council Member

Laurie | Maryland, USA

Sense 2, Luxe, Aria 2 | iOS | Mac OS

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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‎05-29-2023 07:15

In response to LZeeW

‎05-29-2023 07:15

Thanks for that Laurie

I probably did rely on it too much and still a bit of a newbie with using the Fitbit for races such as this, it was my first one. 

It did cross my mind as to the turns, there was even a point in the race where the track got diverted a little bit because of an incident (looked like someone unfortunately keeled over and was getting treatment). It didn't seem much but I'm sure the odd metre here and there all add up. 

It's a lesson learned that's for sure and thanks very much for your comment and assistance 🙂 

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