Back in the day, if you wanted to map a running route by distance, you had a couple of options: drive a route and track mileage with your odometer, grab a map, a ruler, and a calculator, or pick a route that was measured by someone else and hope their calculation was correct. Thankfully, with the advent of online mapping, that’s no longer the case. Route planning, mapping, and distance calculation is now a simple matter of a few clicks of the mouse.

So, what’s a pedometer anyhow? According to this Wikipedia article, a pedometer is “a device . . . that counts each step a person takes by detecting the motion of their hips” in order to calculate distance traveled. I guess that means an online mapping tool that calculates distance traveled isn’t really a pedometer, but now I’m just being pedantic.

Seeing as how each of the three online pedometers below is a Google Maps mashup, the “best” tool becomes a matter of personal preference.

Gmaps Pedometer

First up is my favorite, Gmaps Pedometer. Paul describes his site as “a little hack that uses Google’s superb mapping application to help record distances traveled during a running or walking workout.” Gmaps Pedometer is a site that does exactly that, and not much more - the user interface is pretty stark. If you want a tool that looks pretty and offers tons of options, this isn’t the site for you. If you are a fan of few options and a near non-existent learning curve, Gmaps Pedometer is the online pedometer for you.

The first time I visited the site I was able, with only a few bumps and starts, to plan and save routes with ease. Once a route is saved, simply bookmark the resulting page. Now you’ve got a route map that you can refer to before heading out on a run, share with friends, or link on a blog. Here’s my favorite neighborhood 5k.

One word of warning: if you want to save your route, make sure you bookmark the route’s link before closing your browser window. There’s not an option to search for saved routes when you visit the site again.

MapMyRun

Next up is MapMyRun.com. MapMyRun provides route mapping, route searching, training logging, event services, and social networking. Right off the bat, I had problems using the site. I tried their search function to find routes in my Zip Code, but the results returned routes from all over the city (not just my zip) without efficient sorting and filtering options. After browsing through six pages of search results, I gave up on trying to find existing routes and decided to create my own.

Creating a route presented its own challenges. While creating a route wasn’t difficult, the unbelievably long list of options and features made simple route planning a much longer process than it needed to be. The process required multiple steps with multiple pages of options. Saving a route requires registering with the site, another long process with way too many options. Not my idea of a well put together, user friendly web application. I went through that process so you don’t have to, and here’s the MapMyRun version of my favorite neighborhood 5k.

Nike+ Map It

Finally, there’s the Nike+ Map It feature of the Nike+ website. While the feature is viewable by runners who aren’t registered with the Nike+ site, you can’t save a route without registering. And, good luck trying to find the app. It didn’t show up in my pedometer Google search and it isn’t featured prominently on the site’s front page. Even if you know the feature is there, it’s not easy to find.

While Nike+ Map It is easily the prettiest of the three apps, it may well be the least usable. The interface is beautiful, but being 100% Flash, it takes a while to load. The viewable area is tiny, and requires a lot of scrolling to complete a route of any appreciable length. Sharing routes is easily accomplished by marking your route as public, and there are options to email your route from the site and to copy the direct link to your route. Here’s the Nike+ version of my favorite neighborhood 5k.

Wrapping Things Up

Obviously, I’m a big fan of Gmaps Pedometer. I like simple, clean, and ease of use, and Gmaps Pedometer delivers that in spades. MapMyRun provides some social features and saves your mapped routes in your profile, appealing to those who want a sense of community along with their route mapping. Nike+ Map It is probably the least appealing to the general public, but if you’re a Nike+ runner and want to integrate routes into your Nike+ experience, Map It is likely your best option.