Skamper

If you’re a super keen follower of the Big Bear Instagram stories you may have seen I’ve started using the Skamper app a bit. This was from seeing Allie Bailey posting about it and I thought I’d have a look. The long and short of it, I think it looks good so I have been speaking with some of the team behind it to see how I could use it at Big Bear. I think there are some cool little things I could do with it. But first… what is it!?!

Firstly, it’s not a direct replacement for any specific app as it does a bit of everything. I won’t be deleting anything, just adding this and using it in certain situations.

There are routes on the app that have been run and written up by the team. So you know they’re good. Every Big Bear route is on the app now too. I used it while travelling in Wales, it meant I could run up some hills having done minimal prep (I looked on the app!) knowing I was going to be able to follow a decent route (it was stunning!). The description was accurate so I knew I was gong to be running up a big ol’ hill! It saves taking a bit of a punt using OS maps not really knowing what is going to great me.

You then get your “Skamper score” for your efforts. This is a bit like a supercharged version of the Parkrun age grading. It’s based on more than just your age and gender though, it takes in to account the actual course terrain. So a 40 minute run on a flat tarmac 5k route would score lower than 40 minutes run on a hilly off-rad route. You can then compare your scores against others who have run the route or when you ran it previously. The leaderboards for each route then aren’t full of super speedy people as there are other factors involved.

Once you’ve done a couple of courses it then can predict how long it will take you to run other courses and even predict your times for events. A bit better than twice your half marathon time + 20 minutes or whatever the calculation is for a marathon time these days! On a day-to-day use it means when finding a route somewhere you don’t know you’ve got a fair idea of how long you’ll be running for. It also means you can look at any Big Bear course and get a good indicator of how long a lap should take you. Of course it might not be so good at predicting your 12th lap after 6 hours of running!! It does allow you to compare courses though, great if you’re unfamiliar with the area.

You can also create your own events for you and your friends. This is another area I think could be great for Big Bear. I’ve got some plans for a bit of a winter/festive challenge using this feature. It really just creates your own leaderboard with people in your event. I need to thrash out the plan but we’ll have prizes on offer and do it during our mini-winter break. Watch this space!

So, this isn’t a hard sell and, to be clear, I don’t have any stake in the app. However, I’m keen to see good people do well and the plans I have in how I could use the app for some different event formats is quite exciting! Before I could be comfortable using it heavily in an event I’m keen to get people to give it a little try. I’m asking entrants at the Rabbit Challenge (and will ask those at the Dormouse) to download the app and give it a go. It would be brilliant to have a bit of feedback on it. The plan is for new formats, not to change any of my current events.

Keep your eyes peeled for a festive Skamper challenge and please share any feedback on the app in the FB group!