Reply to "Why Every GPS Overestimates Distance Traveled"

mikesandfordMember

Mark,
I think you are spot on. I have come to the same conclusion after thinking about it overnight.
It is those left and right displacements that add distance. The traces from most running GPSs uploaded to Strava and Garmin, no longer have that zigzag appearance, which they often used to have 7 or 8 years ago. Smoothing algorithms have been evolving and overall the excess distance has reduced slightly. What I have now found by analysing many traces of the same race, is that different watch models give slightly different results.
TomTom Sports watch can give a sightly shorter result than the true distance.
Garmins models vary, mostly slightly long.
Strava iPhone app and Strava Android apps give longer results.

11/4/1512:10 AM

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