This morning I ran 6.6306 miles. The first mile was very much downhill but the 6th mile was a very steep uphill climb. During the run I burnt 937 calories*.

This is all good news**. What is even better news is that I know all of this information without having spent a single penny on a fancy new running watch with built-in GPS.

I know all of this because afterwards I plotted my run on the Gmap Pedometer, a very simple Google Maps based application that provides all the information above and more, and lets you save your run to a unique URL for future reference.

View a larger screenshot of my run for better detail.

My struggles with bending fiddly pieces of string along faded roads on badly folded, torn-but-sellotaped paper maps are well in the past and for the last 6 months or so this website has become invaluable.

A shining example of a well-executed, simple but extremely effective tool that delivers exactly what is required.

Although it does mean I can no longer pretend that I’ve run further than I actually have!

* I don’t believe that I did burn 937 calories. More to the point, I’ve really no idea how many calories I did burn but I do know that the Gmaps Pedometer has no clue how fast I completed my 6.6306 miles, it only knows my body weight and distance completed.

Maybe a combination of distance, body weight and time would allow a more accurate calorie calculation but for all this website knows, I could have gone for a gentle stroll this morning ( I promise it wasn’t a gentle stroll!).

** It is particularly good news as I am training to run two half-marathons in one week in October and raising money for the British Heart Foundation – feel free to sponsor me if you wish.