Versa is off by 150 yards

[Igoo65]

I run a trail that has the miles marked on it and my Versa is always off by about 100 to 150 yards. How do I correct this? I have called fitbit several times and I don't think the foreign customer service reps understand what I am telling them. All they do is tell me to reset my Versa!  I'm getting very frustrated with them!

[LZeeW]

Hello @Igoo65 and a warm welcome.  I'm happy to give you a user perspective on these distance measurements.  If you are running without GPS, then you get a steps x stride length distance.  Our running stride varies going up and down hills.  Fitbit estimates your stride length based on height and gender.  Running mechanics can also throw in a monkey wrench if you have a short stride compared to a longer, loping stride.  Tweaking your stride length will help if you run without GPS.

But I am going to guess you are doing GPS connected runs and are frustrated with the marked vs GPS distances.  The reality is -- the GPS position is not as pinpoint as we think it is.  I read one site that gives a radius of 16ft as the current average smartphone accuracy.  When you get a mark, you are somewhere in a circle of about 800 square feet. I look at my maps after I am done.  I have been shown to be running through walls, off a cliff, not on the bridge (levitating above a ravine).  You get the picture.

I think your distances are within the accuracy of smartphone GPS.

[Igoo65]

Thanks for the response. I guess what bugs me is, that If I use my map my fitness app. It is almost the same distance as the marked trail. It is just a pain to turn the app on and off through my arm carrier.

[LZeeW]

@Igoo65   I haven't used map my fitness and am intrigued by the difference in the two measured distances.  I am a user, not an engineer  -- so I am sitting here with my puzzled face on, trying to understand how two apps using the same sensors get different distances. 

I understand why you are frustrated.