QUICK LOOK

• Tracks your mileage
• Post your stats to Facebook and Twitter, and find local “team members”
• Available on iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia, Android and Windows Phone 7
• Can be synched with www.RunKeeper.com so you can access all your data online
• You can take Fitness Classes with other RunKeeper users

Don’t let the word “run” in RunKeeper put you off. RunKeeper is not just for hardcore runners or athletes – in fact, a friend of mine lost her pregnancy weight and got fit by walking with RunKeeper. It’s a good app for cyclists too, so all outdoor sportspeople welcome!

I started using RunKeeper because my running partner used it with good results, plus it gave me another good reason to run with my iPhone close by, other than for Instagr.m purposes!

It’s easy to register on www.RunKeeper.com and create a profile (gender, goals and measurements), and once you do, you can start logging your activities, and finding street members (kind of like Facebook friends, or Twitter followees). Once the app is downloaded on your phone and you enter your username, it will synch with www.RunKeeper.com, but you can choose not to publish training details (like in my case when I ran/walked really slowly and was too shy for anyone to see). It’s also good to know that if you forget your phone, or choose not to train with it, you can manually add details to www.RunKeeper.com.

As you start exercising, you turn on the app, and immediately your distance and pace are measured. You also have the option of listening to your set playlist, listening to auto cues (after each kilometre, for example), and getting coaching. A great feature is auto-stop, which means the timer halts when you’re having a drinks break, or tying a lace, for example (or in my case, posting a picture to Instagr.am).

After your workout, you can post your workout details to your Twitter or Facebook profile, and if you’ve amassed any street members on www.RunKeeper.com, they’ll be able to see your stats too.

What’s great about RunKeeper is the encouragement it offers – run your first 5km race, and you’ll be congratulated. Improve your time, and it will be noted. What’s more, there’s a community of street members ready to support you too. Just be a pal too and show support and friendliness (karma and all that).

There are other offerings – integration with heart rate monitors, training zone advice and route graphs. Once upon a time, in my more fitness-obsessed state, I would have relished these functions, but with a toddler often vying for my Macbook and iPhone, and a diminished interest in detailed fitness, I used RunKeeper for the basics only.

I have traded running with my phone most of the time to running with a Garmin watch – it’s simpler, plus I spent more time looking on my phone than trying to run up a hill. I think it’s a great app and is as suited to the beginner as it is to the fitness aficionado. The motivation it offers plus detailed stats plus ease of ease plus social connectivity make it a winner (along with you, working on your fitness!). *cue Chariots of Fire theme song*

Turn ons

• The ease of use
• The connectivity to other local RunKeeper users
• The social network integration
• The wide 

Turn offs

• Doing sports while carrying a phone can be impractical at times

Price: Free (and $19.99 per year for additional reports and tracking. Training classes start at $5).