About Futunk

Futunk is a creative project of Rob Kaper, a fellow runner. On this website we can easily connect share our most amazing running memories. Join me in bringing our running achievements to life!

Mi nem pihenünk, hanem futunk. [ˈfutuŋk]

Hungarian; We don't rest, but run.

Why is Futunk being created?

When people ask me what I am working on, the simple answer is: think of something like Strava. However, it's important to note that my intention isn't to compete with Strava. I am writing simply because I love running, the running community and coding. It's as simple as that.

Philosophy

First and foremost: Futunk is dedicated to the world of running — exclusively. The focal points are essential training runs and foremost showcasing hard-earned medals, fast accomplishments and impressive distances. Leave everyday strolls in the park, commutes and unrelated activities like skiing trips elsewhere.

Here are some examples of how this running-focused philosophy translates into action:

• Running boasts its own unique and recognisable distances — think 5Ks or the renowned marathon. On Futunk, all of your efforts for these popular distances, are effortlessly accessible, both official and unofficial times. You can see easily see where each activity ranks.

• For those who participate in organised events, Futunk has your back. Even if your watch recorded a slightly shorter distance, Futunk ensures it's counted as the official race length. If you ran a 10K and your watch only recored 9,9km: no worries, it's a 10K.

  You can even input chip and gun times from race results, adding an extra layer of authenticity. Official results always take precedence.

  If your watch mistakenly clocked a longer distance in a race, Futunk also makes the necessary adjustment. Let's face it, nobody wants a false PR or their record-breaking moment to be when they were actually still catching their breath nearing the finish line.

• Segments and leaderboards are deliberately omitted as these generally lead to potential cheating. If you want competition, enter a race. Besides, unless you are a professional athlete, there is little value in comparing yourself to others. Instead, there is much more joy in celebrating a casual runner's first 5K or their self-improvement journey.

Furthermore, profit is not my motive or incentive. I do not aspire to become a corporate giant. I'm not fond of hiding features behind subscription based-fremium models. Wherever feasible I prioritise open source software and open data providers.

Unfortunately avoiding monetisation is not an absolute guarantee. I'm dedicated to personally invest time and resources into Futunk. But in the future, if user registrations surge, I might explore options like Patreaon to support costs. My foremost concerns revolve around hosting expenses and licensing fees for third-party tools, especially mapping software featuring satellite imagery.

History

When I first started running, I wanted to showcase my personal bests on my personal website. Manually updating them didn't sit well with me, so I created a simple system to that automatically generated my records from my race results.

Soon enough, I found myelf expanding beyond personal records. Training sessions, route maps, statistics and fancy charts joined the mix. Without a concrete plan, I ended up with a blend of Google Sheets imports, arrays and export files from my sports watch.

In time, this initial effort grew slower with every new activity. Then came late 2022, and I tackled long-overdue performance enhancements. What started as a modest effort spiraled into a complete tech overhaul, a fresh visual look, and a snazzy web interface for uploading new activities. This interface begged for user accounts, which sparked the idea building a separate website. That's when I opted to migrate to a dedicated domain.

Future

Futunk's roadmap includes a series of new features. The goal? Shifting it from a personal site to one where every runner can create their own profile, access their statistics and enjoy the same sharing opportunities I do.

With the project still in its early development phase, I'm reluctant to state state that Futunk will become a full-fledged community or social media platform. However, my inspiration is for Futunk to have the high level of technical sophistication and polished professionalism maturity that could potentially lead it in that direction.