Did you know that you can choose from multiple voices to deliver your audio cues?
The voice of the “Runkeeper lady” (her name is Kat and she’s wonderful) has become synonymous with tracking a workout with the ASICS Runkeeper app, and we’ve gotten lots of feedback from you about it over the years. Many of you love it (a little too much), some feel the opposite, and many more have a complicated relationship with it. Along the way you’ve asked us for more voice options: ranging from Morgan Freeman to Ryan Gosling.
While Ryan didn’t make it in this time around, we’re excited about the range of voices we’ve brought you, recorded by a motley crew of talent throughout the Boston area. They are: Drill Instructor (not from Full Metal jacket but a very solid imitator); Mademoiselle (a fun French voice delivered by our very own VP Marketing Sandrine); Your Conscience (a deep booming voice that might be from the heavens above), Boston Fan (from a Runkeeper team alum who always had us laughing), and Mr. Announcer (those of you MBTA commuter rail riders may recognize him from the former 5:05 to Fitchburg). They’ll be giving you all the stats and updates you’re used to, plus some colorful commentary sprinkled throughout.
We know boredom and doubt can strike even the most dedicated of runners, and we think audio is a great way to keep you motivated and entertained on a workout (hello, playlists and podcasts). Especially since we heard Stephen Colbert’s work with Waze, we’ve been obsessed with the idea of bringing better audio content to Runkeeper activities. Today is a first but important step in that direction, and we want to hear from you on what you’d like from your Runkeeper voices! So do speak up in the comments, please, or tweet us your feedback using the hashtag #Runkeeper.
How to change voices or audio cues in the Runkeeper app:
To access the voices, visit the Settings menu, select Activity Settings, and tap Audio Cue Voices to make your selection.
Happy running!
