Checklist before heading out to train alone: route, contacts, battery and SafeTrack.

• Tell someone your route and your return time.
• Head out with a charged phone and location on.
• Have emergency contacts in the app before starting SafeTrack.
• Start SafeTrack before you move and do not close the app.
• An app alerts, but it does not replace an emergency call.

1. Choose the route and decide what time you will be back. Prefer familiar stretches with signal.
2. Check the weather and the time it gets dark.
3. Tell a contact your route and your return time.
4. Check that your emergency contacts are in the app and that they know they are.
5. Charge your phone, turn on location and keep your medical ID visible on the lock screen.
6. Carry water, some food, your ID and an extra layer if needed.
7. Start SafeTrack before you begin to move.
8. When you get back, end the session and tell your contact.

Keep it short and specific: where you are going, by which way and when you will be back. For example:

"I'm heading out for a run along [route]. I'll be back around [time]. If I haven't texted you by [deadline], call me."

When you get back, tell them you have finished.

1. Open the app and go to SafeTrack from Home.
2. Choose your activity, such as running, walking, hiking or cycling.
3. Check that the GPS signal is good and that you have granted location permission.
4. If the app warns you that you have no emergency contacts, add them first.
5. Tap "Start SafeTrack".
6. Keep the app open or in the background. Do not close it from the recent apps list: it would stop monitoring.

You can add and edit your emergency contacts in the app settings or, on the website, in My account.

• In the heat, go through the guide on training outdoors in hot weather.
• In the cold, in the mountains or in the rain, read the guide on cold, mountains and rain.
• If you train in the Canary Islands, there is a local example in the guide on training outdoors in the Canary Islands.

If it is an emergency, call your country's official emergency number yourself (112 in the European Union) and say where you are. SafeTrack is a backup alert for your contacts, not an emergency service.

Zoku Athletics includes SafeTrack with SOS on the Free plan. If you stay still, it asks whether you are OK and, if you do not answer, opens your messaging app with your location ready for your emergency contacts and emails those who have confirmed their email. It needs signal and battery.

It depends on GPS, battery, signal and permissions. It does not call 112.

The app is not public on the stores yet. It is in testing and there is no launch date.

The Free plan is free, with no card and no expiry. Pro and Elite are paid; what each includes is shown in the plans section of the home page.

Who is behind the website and the app: About Zoku Athletics.

• Training alone outdoors: safety checklist: A safety checklist for training or running alone outdoors: what to tell people, how to choose emergency contacts and what alert apps can and cannot do.
• Training outdoors in hot weather: How to train outdoors in hot weather: timing, hydration, pace and load, warning signs and when to stop. An indicative guide, with no medical figures.
• Training in cold, mountains and rain: How to train outdoors in the cold, in the mountains or in the rain: layers, visibility, pace, terrain, phone battery and how to share your route.
• How Zoku Athletics works: How to get started with Zoku Athletics in five steps and what each part of the app does: timer, benchmarks, SafeTrack, Tribe, Vital Flow and more.