How it works
A step race between people you know. Everyone's steps move a marker down a real road, and the app tells you how far behind the runner ahead you are and when you catch them.
Getting started
- Sign in with your emailEnter your email and tap the link we send, or type the six-digit code from the same email. There is no password.
- Make a group or join oneStart a group for your family, household or friends and pick its timezone; every race day ends by that clock. Or open the invite link someone sent you and you join their group and its live race in one step.
- Invite the othersShare the invite link from the group page. Anyone who opens it can join. Only people with the link ever see your road.
- Add it to your Home Screen (optional)Open the site in Safari or Chrome, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. You get a full-screen app, and on iPhone this is also what makes the nightly nudge possible.
Starting a race
A group owner or admin starts a race from the group's library. Pick the road first, then the dates, then how to score it.
- Pick a roadMarathon to Athens is the classic first race at 42 km. Longer roads come in legs, such as Niagara Falls to New York in six or Larnaca to Kykkos across Cyprus in four; each leg is its own race and the library labels them Leg 1 of 4 and so on.
- Set the datesThe start can be today or any later date; until then the race shows as scheduled. Each leg suggests its designed length, and the form tells you how many steps a day the road needs over your dates. Dates can be moved from race settings until the first runner logs a day.
- Choose the scoringStraight numbers ranks total steps. Handicap gives every runner a daily target and ranks on how close each one keeps to it, so a slower walker can win. Set steps per kilometre (1,300 suits most adults) and an optional daily target that drives the hit or miss badge.
- Teams and relayTurn teams on to add a team table with totals and per-person averages. On a multi-leg road, turn relay on and the next leg starts by itself the day after this one ends, with the same runners and settings.
Everyone in the group is entered automatically, and people who join later are added to the live race. The route, dates, scoring and steps per kilometre lock when the first runner logs a day. Until then an admin can also delete the race and start again.
Logging your day
- Open TodayThe log bar sits at the bottom of the road. Tap it once a day, ideally in the evening when your step counter has the full day.
- Type your steps and add a screenshotTake a screenshot of your phone's step counter and attach it. The app reads the number off the screenshot on your phone and fills it in for you to check; what you type always wins. Nothing leaves your phone except the compressed screenshot.
- Save before 3 amYou can log or change a day until 3 am the next morning in your group's timezone. Then the day locks and counts as it stands.
- Catch up on an older dayOpen the History tab, next to Today. It lists every day of the race. A day missing its screenshot shows Proof missing: tap it to attach the screenshot, any time during the race; the number stays as it was. A day you missed completely shows Log late if it falls inside the race's late window, which reaches back to the first day of the race by default: tap it, add that day's screenshot, then the number. A late day can't be changed once saved and shows as late on the table. If yesterday is the day you missed, the Today page also offers to log it late.
- Faster on AndroidWith Agonisma on your Home Screen, take the screenshot and share it straight to Agonisma from the share sheet. The log page opens with the picture already attached.
The road
The Road tab is the main screen. Your marker and everyone else's sit on the map at the distance their steps have carried them, and the card at the top tells you the one thing that matters: how far behind the runner ahead you are and, at your current pace and theirs, the day you catch them. Leaders see who is closing on them instead.
Each road has waypoints, real places with a photo and a short note. When your marker passes one you collect its postcard, and you can share the card with the group. The standings under the map show everyone's distance, and the Table tab has the full leaderboard, today's entries, streaks and days on target. Tap an entry to react to it.
Fair play
Log your own numbers with a real screenshot. Any member can flag an entry with a reason. A group owner or admin decides on the review page: uphold voids the entry, which stays in history with a strikethrough and drops out of the standings; dismiss clears the flag. Admins never rewrite another runner's number, only void or restore it. The review page also lists entries whose screenshot read-out does not match the typed number, screenshots reused from another day, and the same exact step count logged twice in one race, each with one tap to raise a flag. Every screenshot is fingerprinted, on your phone and again by the server that stores it, so the same picture cannot quietly serve two days, and a screenshot cannot be swapped once its day has locked. A day logged late is refused outright if its screenshot is already on another day, and it shows as late on the table for everyone to see; admins get a notification.
The nightly bulletin
At 8 pm in your group's timezone, while a race is on, everyone gets one email with last night's standings, the chase sentence, the next waypoint and a reminder if today is still unlogged. Turn it off on your profile page. If you would rather be nudged on your phone, switch on the nightly nudge on your profile and allow notifications; on iPhone, add the site to your Home Screen first. When a race ends, a final email names the road winner, the longest streak and the furthest waypoint reached.
Questions
Does it cost anything?
No. Agonisma is free, with no plans or upsell.
Do I need to install an app?
No. It runs in the browser on any phone. You can add it to your Home Screen for a full-screen app with the nightly nudge, and on Android you can share a screenshot straight to it, but nothing is required.
Does it read my health app?
No. It never asks for Health, Google Fit or Samsung Health permissions. You type your steps and attach a screenshot of your step counter as proof. Nothing syncs.
Can the race start on a later date?
Yes. Pick any start date when you create the race and it sits as scheduled until then. A group owner or admin can move the start and end dates from race settings until the first runner logs a day, after which they lock.
What if I forget to log a day?
You can log or change a day until 3 am the next morning in your group's timezone. After that the day is locked. A day you missed completely can still be logged late: open the History tab and tap Log late next to the day. Add that day's screenshot, then the number. Late logging reaches back to the first day of the race by default, a late day can't be changed once saved, and it shows as late on the table. A runner can log at most half the race's days late, and before the race starts an admin can shorten the window to between one day and a week, or turn it off.
What if I forgot the screenshot?
The day shows as proof missing and does not count until the screenshot is attached. Open the History tab and tap Proof missing next to the day to add it. That works even after the day has locked; only the number is frozen.
How are steps turned into kilometres?
Each race sets steps per kilometre, 1,300 by default, which is about right for most adults. Total steps divided by that number is your distance down the road.
What is handicap scoring?
Every runner gets their own daily target and the road is scaled to it, so a runner on 5,000 a day and a runner on 12,000 a day race as equals. Whoever keeps closest to their target leads. Straight numbers, the default, simply ranks total steps.
Can we race as teams?
Yes. Turn teams on when you start the race and the table gets a Team view showing each team's total and its average per person, so unequal team sizes stay fair.
Who can see my steps and screenshots?
Only members of your group. Roads, standings, entries and screenshots are never public and there are no public profiles.
Someone's number looks wrong. What can I do?
Tap the flag on their entry and give a reason. A group owner or admin decides: uphold voids the entry, which stays in history with a strikethrough, or dismiss. The review page also lists screenshots whose read-out does not match the typed number, screenshots that have already been used on another day by anyone in the group, and a runner logging exactly the same number twice in one race.
What is a postcard?
Each road has waypoints, real places with a photo and a short note. When your marker passes one you collect its postcard, and you can share the card with the group.
What happens when the race ends?
Logging closes after the last day's 3 am lock, standings freeze, and everyone gets a final email the next morning with the winner, the longest streak and the furthest waypoint reached. The road and table stay readable.
What is a relay?
Long roads are split into legs. With relay on, the next leg starts by itself the day after this one ends, with the same runners, targets and length. Turn it off any time from race settings.
Can I change a race after it starts?
The route, dates, scoring and steps per kilometre lock when the first runner logs a day. Daily targets lock per runner with their first entry. An owner or admin can still end the race early, change the relay switch, and resolve flags.
How do I delete my account?
Leave a group to stop sharing with it. Email agonisma@metronos.net to delete your account and everything attached to it.
Something else? Email agonisma@metronos.net. See also the roads, privacy and terms.