Uploading a Course to MapRun6 app

The most difficult aspect of uploading a course to MapRun is dealing with its very strict and loosely documented requirements for uploading a KMZ map with 512-pixel tiles that has been georeferenced with EPSG3857 and oriented so that the top of the map is grid north (not magnetic north). This can be done in OCAD or version 0.9.5+ of Open Orienteering Mapper for orienteering maps (or the OpenOrienteeringMap website if non-detailed Pseudo-O maps are sufficient). Instructions for creating a KMZ file for MapRun6 will be posted at a later time.

Alternatively, there are two workarounds if you don't want the hassle of generating a KMZ file and instead have participants carry a printed or PDF map for locating the start and finish and putting the phone in their pocket while they run. Participants will just see the OpenTopoMap rather than an orienteering map in the app. Skipping the KMZ file has the added benefit of preventing errors in georeferencing the course because right away you can immediately see if the controls are at the correct location in on the OpenTopoMap. If you include a KMZ basemap, it is very hard to determine if the controls were actually georeferenced properly.

To skip the KMZ step, either:

• Upload the course to MapRun Checksites and only upload the KML file; or

• Have your MapRun administrator upload any other tiled KMZ file (from another course) to MapRun Console and change the MapRun6 settings on the upload page for "Opacity (%) of Map Overlay" to 0% and "Allow the user to change this" to Locked.

If you use either of these methods, MapRun6 will display the controls on the built-in OpenTopoMap or Google Satellite map which gets automatically cached on a participant's phone if they open the course after they download it. You should remind participants to always try out the course when connected to the Internet by clicking "Go to Start" to make sure that the start and finish of the course displayed in the correct location on the basemap, OpenTopoMap, or Satellite map.

Regardless of whether you have created a proper KMZ file or skipped it as described in the previous step, you will need to generate a KML course waypoints file that provides the GPS coordinates of the controls to MapRun.

The following sections describe several alternative methods for creating a KML file, depending on which course setting software you use.

The easiest way of creating a KML file is probably to use OpenOrienteeringMap for pseudo-O street maps generated from OpenTopoMap/OpenStreetMap. However, that tool is really set up for Score-O type street orienteering maps. The detail of the maps is often not very good and there are no tools for control descriptions.

But if you have a georeferenced basemap, you can easily generate the KML using Condes or PurplePen as described below (also see our instructions on how to georeference a basemap).

Or you can plot or recreate the course in Google Earth or OO Mapper/OCAD and then manually create control descriptions. See next sections.

OpenOrienteeringMap has a function to export the required MapRun KMZ and KML files. The maps are oriented so that the top is grid north (not magnetic north like typical orienteering maps) and lack contour lines and other details because they are generated from OpenStreetMaps data. But they make generating urban street-o type courses easy if you just want a quick training map. OpenOrienteeringMap creates Score-O courses only, so you may want to use image editing or Adobe Acrobat Pro software to connect the controls with lines if you are doing a typical point-to-point orienteering course.

1) Create the course in OpenOrienteeringMap following the on-screen instructions.

2) Export the PDF, KML, and KMZ files for the course.

3) Upload the KML and KMZ to MapRun (or Checksites and provide the Checksites code to the participants) to download in their MapRun6 app.

Note: you can create a simple course in Google Earth but you would need to provide separate control descriptions (if desired). If you have a KMZ basemap for the course, the Maprun Admin Console can generate a PurplePen file for printing the map in PurplePen (you could also add course descriptions). But in that case, it would probably be better just to create the course in PurplePen or Condes to start with.

1. Create the course in Google Earth (Pro) by creating waypoints whose names/labels are numerical control codes or S1 and F1 for the start and finish.

2. Save the KML file from Google Earth Pro and upload to MapRun via the administrator console or Checksites as described at the top of this page.

Note: you should not have two controls within about 30m of each other, otherwise MapRun6 will repeatedly punch one then the other until you move away from both. Therefore, you should not add two controls at the same location if you want a common control on the course. Instead you need to manually edit the KML file to copy one placemark name and coordinates and paste it in the later spot in the KML file where you want the control to be repeated. For example, for a loop containing S1,1,2/4,3,2/4,5,F1 instead of creating separate placemarks for 2 and 4, you would create one called 2 and copy and paste the information including and between the <Placemark > and </Placemark> tabs in the KML file so that the sequence in the KML is S1,1,2,3,2,5,F1). If you did this correctly, in MapRun6, the loop will be displayed properly with only a single control circle for the common control at 2/4 (e.g. S1,1,2/4,3,2/4,5,F1). See the tips at the end of this page for more details.

An alternative is to use a georeferenced map in course planning software that handles loops and can export KML such as Condes, PurplePen, or OpenOrienteeringMapper).

Note: Condes 10+ has a function to export the required MapRun KML files.

1. Create the course in Condes using a Georeferenced OCAD map (or georeferenced OO Mapper map saved in OCAD format).

2. Export the KML file for a single course from Condes.

3. (Optional): Open the KML file in Google Earth to make sure the controls are where you expect. If the controls are way off, there is either a problem with how the map was georeferenced or you might have entered a non-zero offset in Condes when adding the map to a Condes canvas. If the controls are off 20m-50m from where they should be, it might be possible to adjust them in Google Earth and resave the KML.

4. (Optional): Open the KML file in Google Earth to make sure the controls are where you expect. If the controls are way off, there is a problem with how the map was georeferenced. If the controls are off 20m-50m from where they should be, in Google Earth (Pro) you can select "Properties" for a control and then drag it to the correct location and resave the KML file.

5. Open the KML file in a text editor such as Notepad.

6. Edit the start and finish placemark names in the KML to replace placemark name "S" with "S1" and "F" with "F1" (hopefully MapRun will fix their software to eliminate this silly step). If the controls use letters instead of numbers, you need to edit the controls names to be numerical such as "1" or "31". Save the file and then upload to MapRun via the administrator console or Checksites as described at the top of this page.

Note: PurplePen doesn't have all the advanced course-planning features that Condes (below) provides, but it is the easiest course planning software to use if you want to use orienteering maps. PurplePen has a function to export courses as GPX files which can then be converted into the required MapRun KML files.

1. Create the course in PurplePen using a Georeferenced OCAD or OO Mapper map.

2. Export the GPX file for a single course from PurplePen.

3. Convert the GPX file to KML using the tool at https://tools.widmann.ca/

4. (Optional): Open the KML file in Google Earth to make sure the controls are where you expect. If the controls are way off, there is a problem with how the map was georeferenced. If the controls are off 20m-50m from where they should be, in Google Earth (Pro) you can select "Properties" for a control and then drag it to the correct location and resave the KML file.

5. Open the KML file in a text editor such as Notepad.

6. Edit the start and finish placemark names in the KML to replace placemark name "S" with "S1" and "F" with "F1" (hopefully MapRun will fix their software to eliminate this silly step). If the controls use letters instead of numbers, you need to edit the controls names to be numerical such as "1" or "31". Save the file and then upload to MapRun via the administrator console or Checksites as described at the top of this page.

Since version 0.9.5, Open Orienteering Mapper has apparently included the ability to generate KML files for MapRun if the course was created using paths in OOM. If this works for you, please let us know the steps you took and we can update these instructions.