I started joining fun runs in Cebu just a few months ago. Not competitively, just as someone who wanted to see what the fuss was about and ended up loving the feeling of showing up on a Sunday morning with a few thousand other people who feel the same way.
But I always had this one frustration that nobody seemed to be solving.
After every race, I'd have a bib somewhere, a medal photo somewhere else, and a finish time buried in a Facebook post that would take me 20 minutes to find. A month later it was like the race never happened. No record. No way to look back at everything I'd done and feel good about it.
My Strava had my runs but not my races. My camera roll had photos but no context. My drawer had bibs but no story.
So I started building RunMate.
What RunMate Is
RunMate is a race journal for Filipino runners. Specifically, it started with Cebu in mind because that's the running scene I know and care about. But really it's for anyone who runs races and wants a proper place to keep track of them.
The core idea is simple: log your race, upload your bib and medal photos, and build up a record of everything you've done. Over time that becomes something meaningful. You can look back and see how far you've come, literally and figuratively.
But it grew beyond just a journal. Here's what it can do right now:
The Features
Race Journal — Log every race with the details that matter. Race name, distance, date, finish time, location, notes, and photos of your bib and medal. Everything in one place, organized by date.
Medal Wall — A visual grid of all your race medals. This one was important to me because medals deserve to be shown off, not sitting in a box under your bed. Your wall is yours to keep private or share with the world.
Public Profiles — Every runner gets a shareable profile at runmateapp.com/u/yourusername. It shows your stats, your badges, and your medal wall. You can share it on Facebook, send it to friends, or just have it as a permanent record of who you are as a runner.
Stats — Total races completed, total distance across all races, favorite distance, and more. Small things but they add up to a picture of your running life.
The Podium Wall — This one I'm really proud of. If you've ever placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd at a race, you can submit your finish and get featured on the RunMate Podium Wall. It's the community's way of celebrating the runners who made it to the top step. Every submission gets reviewed before going live so we keep it real.
Who It's For
Honestly? It's for the runner who finishes races and wants more than a Strava segment to show for it. The weekend warrior who has done 10 races but couldn't tell you their PR off the top of their head. The person who wants to share their running journey with family and friends without sending a wall of screenshots.
It's also for the Cebu running community specifically. We have a great scene here. Lots of races, lots of runners, and a real sense of community. RunMate is meant to give that community a home on the internet.
What's Coming
I'm building this as a solo developer, which means I ship slowly but deliberately. Here's what's on the list:
Run Buddy — A voice companion for your runs. Think of it like having a training partner in your earpiece who knows your pace, your history, and can give you real-time encouragement. This one is ambitious but it's the feature I'm most excited about.
More community features — Ways for runners to connect, follow each other's progress, and build the kind of community that goes beyond just race day.
Monetization done right — I want RunMate to be sustainable. That means some features will be free forever and some will be for members who want to support the platform. I'm still working out what that looks like but I promise it won't be a paywall on the basic stuff.
A Note on Why This Matters to Me
I built this because I wanted it to exist. Not because I saw a gap in the market or ran a survey. I genuinely wanted a place to keep my race history and I thought other runners in Cebu probably felt the same way.
If you're a runner in Cebu or anywhere in the Philippines, I'd love for you to try it. Create your profile, log your races, share your medal wall. And if you've been on the podium, submit your finish.
This is just the beginning. I'm building in public, shipping regularly, and listening to feedback. If you have ideas or you've found something broken, reach out.
See you at the starting line.
Norman
Founder, RunMate