Bield just
shipped a lot.
3D terrain. A sixth role. Pacer specialist profiles that actually mean something. Race history shared between you and your pacer. Crew ETA. Coach dashboard. SEO pages for organisers. All in one update.
Six equal peers.
One platform.
Bield isn't a runner app with extras bolted on. Every role is designed end-to-end, free to use, and permanent. Switch between them any time. No middleman, no fees, no nonsense.
Your race. Your history. Your support network, co-ordinated in one place — from entry to finish line.
Free + Premium £4/moClaim posts, digital briefings, live check-in, and a reputation score that builds with every verified event.
Free foreverSpecialist profile with guide running, adaptive pacing, altitude skill, wilderness first aid, and 45 notable race badges.
Free foreverLive ETA to the next aid station. Share-pack access. Cheer notifications mid-race. what3words checkpoint locations.
Free foreverPer-athlete dashboard with upcoming races, Strava summary, and share-pack access. Suggest races with a rationale.
Free foreverGPX upload, automatic SEO landing page at bield.run/race/, marshall posts, live counts, cancellation cascade.
Free foreverFeel the hills before
you've taken your first step.
Every verified race on Bield now has a 3D terrain view. Gradient-coloured by climb steepness. Aid stations as 3D pins. A fly-through animation that takes you over the course before you've laced up.
Gradient colouring
Green through orange to red. Read the profile at a glance. Know exactly where the hurt comes before race day.
Fly-through animation
Camera sweeps over the course. Feel the descent from Blencathra before you've booked a hotel.
UK OS OpenZoomStack
The basemap British fell runners recognise from paper. Footpaths, contours, field boundaries. Not a road map.
Aid station 3D pins
Drop altitude to find every aid station. Distance from pin to pin. Buildings overlay for urban race sections.
The profile thatSpeaks the right
language.
Ultra running isn't one thing. Bield's pacer profile now captures 45 notable race badges, five tiers of guide running skill for visually-impaired athletes, adaptive pacing for runners with disabilities or chronic conditions, wilderness first aid, and global coaching certifications.
- Guide running (5 tiers) — None through Certified. For visually-impaired athletes. Not vague, not checkbox.
- Adaptive pacing (5 tiers) — Supporting runners with mobility differences, neurodivergence, chronic illness, deaf/HoH.
- Wilderness first aid (5 tiers) — None / Basic CPR / WFA / WFR / WEMT+. Matters at mile 80 in the dark.
- General availability mode — Publish open availability without a committed race. Solves the supply-side chicken-and-egg.
- 29 coaching certifications — UESCA, UKA CIRF, British Athletics Endurance Pathway, UKCC L1–L4, Athletics NZ, ITRA, and more.
- Expenses open toggle — Visible before a runner messages. Sidesteps the awkward money conversation entirely.
We added a sixth role.
Coach.
Coaches were already in races — in the background, in the runner's head, on the end of the phone at 3am. Bield gives them a proper home. Free forever, no Premium gate.
Other ultra-running platforms charge up to $100/year for pacer-matching alone. We don't charge coaches anything. The runner's £4/month is the only money that ever changes hands on this platform — and only if they choose the deep features.
Link to athletes by handle
Two-way consent. The athlete controls what level of their share-pack you can see — race info, pace plan, or full medical at race week.
Per-athlete dashboard
Upcoming races, recent Strava activity summary, share-pack up to the level the athlete granted. One screen, each athlete.
Suggest races with a rationale
Pick a race from the catalogue, write a sentence on why. Athlete accepts, declines, or leaves it pending. State machine in the DB, visible to both parties.
Shared race history across the relationship
See every race your athlete has done that you've both attended — you as pacer, them as runner — across any number of years. Grouped by event series.
Crew & marshalls,
properly served.
The people who drive through the night, stand in the rain, and refill water bottles at 4am. They need real tools, not an afterthought.
Live ETA panel
Next aid station name, distance, and ETA based on planned pace — or re-anchored live from the runner's current mile and observed speed. Know when to expect them.
Cheer mid-race
Share a one-tap link before the start. Friends type 200 characters. Push notification lands on the runner's phone mid-race. No app install for supporters.
what3words checkpoints
Every aid station also has a what3words address. When you're navigating a muddy field at 2am, a postcode doesn't cut it.
Share-pack staircase
Level 0 hides everything. Level 4 unlocks full medical at race week. Auto-deleted 14 days after race day. Your data, your control.
Marshal 6 events — earn Premium free.
Marshalling is free forever. Marshal six verified events and Bield automatically upgrades your runner account to Premium — permanently. Give back to racing; racing gives back to you.
Shared race history.
Instant trust.
When you browse a pacer's profile — or a pacer finds you through the discover flow — Bield surfaces the races you've both done, grouped by event series, across all years. The evidence that needs no introduction.
Bidirectional. Grouped by series. No manual entry. Bield builds it from Strava and race records automatically — verified, not self-reported.
What it costs.
Which is very little.
Five of six roles are free forever. Full stop. The runner who wants the deep features pays £4 a month, or £30 a year, or earns it free by giving something back to racing.
Free
- Marshall, Pacer, Crew, Coach, Organiser — all roles, all features
- Runner: 1 active race at a time
- GPX-verified race pages
- Share-pack Level 0–2
- Strava account link
- ID verification
Premium
- Unlimited concurrent races
- Full race history & CV
- 3D terrain viewer with fly-through
- Plan vs Actual post-race analysis
- Shared race history with pacers
- Share-pack Level 3–4
- Race photo upload (GPS-pinned)
- Advanced profile analytics
Earn it free
- Marshal 6 verified events
- Premium on your runner account, permanent
- No payment, no subscription
- Reputation score accumulates regardless
- All Marshall features stay free as well
Other ultra-running platforms charge up to $100/year for pacer-matching alone. Bield's pacer side is free, and always will be. The only money that moves on this platform is a runner's £4/month — and only if they choose it.
Bield is built by people
who'd rather be running.
No middleman. No fees. No nonsense. Try it.
Runners. Marshalls. Pacers. Crew. Coaches. Organisers.
No middleman, no fees, no nonsense.