Using the Race Day Tracker | Support

Using the Race Day Tracker

Last updated: May 18, 2026 · Applies to: Earn Your Ears 1.3.0 and later

The Race Day Tracker is what you'll use on race morning. It tracks your distance and pace, watches the sweep cutoff for you, and — new in 1.3.0 — adjusts for your corral's head start so the math is right for your race, not Corral A's.

This article walks through setting it up, what each number on screen means, and what to do if something looks off.

Before you start

A few quick things to have ready:

Your bib number (so you know your assigned corral — it's printed on your bib and in your runDisney confirmation email)
The app updated to 1.3.0 (build 24) or later
Location set to Always for Earn Your Ears (Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Earn Your Ears). This is what lets GPS keep tracking when your phone is locked or you switch apps to take a character photo.
Your phone reasonably charged — GPS tracking for a half or full will use about 10–15% per hour.

Tip: Set everything up in your hotel room the night before, not while standing in the corral. Pick the weekend, race, and corral — then close the app. Your selection will be there when you open it back up race morning.

Setting up your race

Open the app and tap the Race Day tab at the bottom. The first time you open it for a given race, you'll see the setup picker.

1 Pick your weekend

Choose the race weekend you're running — Springtime Surprise, WDW Marathon Weekend, Wine & Dine, or Princess. Each weekend has its own set of races and its own corral structure.

[Screenshot: Race Day setup — weekend picker]

2 Pick your race

The races available for that weekend will appear as chips — for example, 5K, 10K, 10 Miler, Half Marathon, or Full Marathon. Tap the one you're running.

3 Pick your corral

Your corral letter is on your bib. Tap it from the list of corral chips (A through F for STS, or A through G for the larger weekends). Below the picker, you'll see a "Race data estimate — tap for details" link — tap it any time to read where the corral head-start numbers come from.

[Screenshot: Race Day setup — race and corral chips with disclaimer link]

Why your corral matters: Corral A starts the official race clock. Every later corral starts a few minutes after that — sometimes 30–40 minutes for the back of the pack. That means a Corral D runner has 30–40 fewer minutes to reach each mile marker before the sweep van gets there. The tracker now accounts for this automatically.

4 Tap Start when you're ready

The Start button activates once you've picked all three (weekend, race, corral). Tap it when the race begins — ideally as you cross the start line, not when Corral A starts. The app will request Location permission if it hasn't already; choose Allow While Using App or Always.

What the screen shows while you're running

Once you're tracking, four numbers dominate the screen:

Stat	What it means
Distance	Miles covered so far, measured by GPS.
Time	Elapsed time since you tapped Start.
Pace	Your current pace in minutes per mile, averaged across the last short window of GPS points.
vs Sweep	How many minutes ahead of (or behind) the sweep van's cutoff pace you are right now — adjusted for your corral's head start.

[Screenshot: Race Day running view with 4 stat cards]

Reading the sweep buffer

The vs Sweep stat is the one to watch. It's color-coded:

SAFE More than 3 minutes ahead of the sweep cutoff. You can ease off, stop for a photo, or grab water without worry.

CAUTION Between 0 and 3 minutes ahead. Still ahead, but tight — if you stop for long you'll fall behind. Voice coaching will tell you when you cross into this zone.

DANGER You've fallen behind the sweep cutoff. You need to pick up the pace, skip remaining character stops, or accept a courtesy ride if one is offered.

A small built-in cushion: The status thresholds have a little hysteresis built in — you won't bounce between safe and caution every few seconds if you're hovering right at the boundary. Voice cues also have a 60-second cooldown so the app doesn't nag you mid-step.

Background tracking — phone locked, app switched

You can lock your phone, put it in your hydration belt, and walk through Magic Kingdom without losing your tracking. You can also switch to the Camera app for a character photo, or open Pandora to change a song. GPS keeps recording in the background as long as Location is set to Always.

✓ Verify before race morning

Do a 1-mile test run a few days out. Start tracking, lock your phone, walk for 5 minutes, then check the app — the distance and time should have continued counting. If they didn't, your Location permission isn't set to Always.

Setting Location to Always: Open the iOS Settings app → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Earn Your Ears → tap Always. Also make sure Precise Location is on.

What happens when you finish

When you cross the finish line (or just want to stop), tap the Stop button. You'll see a finish summary with your final distance, time, average pace, and where you ended up against the sweep.

From there you can:

Save to Run History — keeps the GPS track and stats permanently. Recommended for race day — this is the run you'll want to look back on.
Save to Training Log — if you want this run counted as a training log entry too.
Discard — if it was a test run or you don't want to keep it.

Good to know: The save happens in the background, so the app won't freeze while it uploads. If you're somewhere without signal at the finish, the run is still saved locally and will sync the next time you have Wi-Fi or cellular.

Where the corral head-start numbers come from

The per-corral head start values built into the app come from observed race results and runDisney's published corral chart widths — not from official runDisney data. We've validated them against real bibs (including bib 33410 in 2026 Springtime Surprise 10K, who started about 39 minutes after Corral A — the model predicted 42).

That's accurate enough to plan around, but it's not exact. The disclaimer in the app says the same thing: "Corral head-start values are estimates based on observed race results, not official runDisney data. Actual start times vary year to year and may differ on race day."

If you notice your real head start was meaningfully different from what the app assumed, let us know — that's exactly the kind of data that helps tighten future versions.

Troubleshooting

The Start button is greyed out

You need to pick all three: weekend, race, and corral. The button activates once all three are selected. If you only see two chips highlighted, scroll the picker to make sure the third selection actually took.

My distance stopped counting when I locked my phone

Location permission for Earn Your Ears isn't set to Always. Open iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Earn Your Ears, and switch it from "While Using" to "Always". You don't need to redo the run — just fix the setting and do a test run before race day.

My pace seems way off — faster or slower than I'm actually moving

Pace is a short-window rolling average, so it can flicker when GPS reception is poor (around tall buildings, under tree cover, near the Castle). Look at average pace over the last mile rather than instantaneous pace if it's bouncing around. Distance is generally more reliable than pace.

The "vs Sweep" number says I'm in danger but I feel fine pace-wise

Two things to check. First, confirm you picked the right corral — if you accidentally selected an earlier corral than the one on your bib, the app will think you started earlier than you actually did. Second, the sweep van runs at a fixed cutoff pace (typically 16:00/mile) — even comfortable walking won't keep you ahead of it for a full half marathon if you stop frequently. Cut a character stop short and you'll usually swing back to caution within half a mile.

I forgot to tap Start until a mile in — can I fix this?

Not retroactively, but you can keep going — the app will track from when you started, and your "vs Sweep" math will be based on the elapsed time since Start, not since the official race clock. It'll be a bit optimistic compared to reality. For an accurate read on a future race, tap Start as you cross the actual start line.

I selected the wrong corral — how do I change it?

Stop tracking (tap Stop), then go back into the Race Day tab. You'll see the setup picker again — pick the right corral and tap Start. You'll lose any tracking you had so far, so only do this if you noticed early.

The app crashed or restarted mid-run. Did I lose everything?

Distance and pace stats won't survive a hard crash, but the GPS points captured while the app was running in the background are typically still on the device and can be exported on request. Reach out via the channels below as soon as possible and include your build number from the home screen.

Need more help?

If something behaves unexpectedly on race day or in a tune-up run, let us know:

Discord (fastest) — Join here
Email — support@earnyourears.app
Support portal — support.earnyourears.com/portal

When reporting an issue, please include your build number (from the home screen), the weekend, race, and corral you selected, and roughly when in the run the problem happened. It makes diagnosis much faster.