By Taylor Smith

A new Strava activity tracker feature called Route Builder for mobile can make planning the location and distance of your next run much easier. 

Andrew Vontz, Strava’s director of communications, says that the new mobile feature also makes exploring a new town or city much more safe and efficient. “You can land almost anywhere in the world, someplace you’ve never visited before, and, with a just a few swipes on a map, create the best possible route,” Vontz told Runner’s World Magazine. 

To use the new feature, trace a rough route over the map with your finger — and the app does the rest. After creating the route, you can export the route to a device that supports GPX or TCX import (another option is to print out a cue sheet with the mapped route). Concerned about elevation? The app allows you to map out a route with the least amount of elevation change. In terms of safety, Strava is ideal for ensuring that you know exactly where you are going, including staying on populated thoroughfares. 

Users can access this new feature for $3/month — just subscribe to the Strava Summit app in the Apple iTunes Store.