How to export a GPX file from Strava, Garmin and the rest

Every poster starts with a file. Here is where each app hides its export button, and which format to take.

Last updated 5 September 2026

Which format?

Take GPX unless the app makes something else easier. It is the one everything writes and everything reads.

FIT is what a Garmin, Wahoo or Coros watch actually records, and it keeps more of your data (heart rate, cadence, laps). If you see "Export Original", that is usually the FIT. TCX is Garmin's older format and still turns up in older exports. Race Map reads all three.

Strava

  1. Open the activity on strava.com. The phone app has no export, so use a browser (or ask your phone for the desktop site).
  2. Select the ⋯ menu, top right.
  3. Choose Export GPX. Export Original gives you the file your watch uploaded, usually a FIT, which works too and keeps your heart rate.

Planned a route rather than run it? Open it under My Routes and use the export icon there. Nothing needs connecting to your account, you are just downloading a file.

Garmin Connect

  1. Open the activity on connect.garmin.com.
  2. Select the gear icon, top right.
  3. Choose Export to GPX, or Export Original for the raw FIT off the watch.

In the phone app the same options live under Export in the ⋯ menu, and courses export the same way from Training & Planning → Courses.

Coros

On the web at trainingcn.coros.com (or your regional version), open the activity and use the download icon, which offers GPX, TCX and FIT. In the app it is the share or ⋯ icon, then Export.

Suunto

In the app, open the activity, tap ⋯ and choose Export as GPX. On the web at suunto.com/move the same activity has a download option.

Polar Flow

Open the session on flow.polar.com and use the Export menu at the top right. It offers GPX and TCX.

Wahoo

Wahoo pushes activities to Strava and Garmin Connect, so exporting from whichever you sync to is the quick path. The raw FIT files are also on the head unit itself, which mounts over USB.

Komoot

Open the tour on komoot.com and choose ⋯ → Export GPX. Planned tours work the same as completed ones. Some GPX downloads want Premium in the phone app but not on the web.

AllTrails

Open the recording on alltrails.com, then More → Export route → GPX. It is a Plus feature; if you also sync to Strava, export from there instead.

Apple Watch

The Fitness app cannot export a file. Either let the workout sync to Strava and export from there, or record with an app that exports directly, such as WorkOutDoors or HealthFit.

Nike Run Club, Runkeeper, MapMyRun, adidas Running

All four export from their websites rather than their apps: find the activity in the web dashboard and look for the export option on it. If you sync to Strava, that is faster.

The official race course

For a race you have not run yet, or one where your GPS wandered, try the event's own site. Most big races publish the surveyed course as a GPX, often with the kilometre markers as waypoints, and Race Map will use the organiser's markers when they are in the file. It is the most accurate line you can print.

Then make the poster

  1. Open Race Map and drag your file onto the page. It is read here in your browser and never uploaded.
  2. Check the numbers, trim the warm-up off a watch recording, and snap the finish to your chip time so the stats match your result.
  3. Pick a theme, type in the race name and your details, then choose a size and download the PDF. Unsure which size? Print sizes and IKEA frames.

If the file will not load

"No track points found"
The file is a list of waypoints, not a recorded line. Export it again as an activity.
A straight line shoots off to one side
A GPS spike, usually the watch finding itself indoors before the start. Trim the first few seconds off with the start slider.
The distance looks wrong
GPS drifts, and a marathon rarely records as exactly 42.195 km. Type the official figure over the distance stat, or use the organiser's course file.
The file is a ZIP
Some exports arrive gzipped (.gpx.gz). Unzip it and use the file inside.

Make a poster →

Race Map is free, needs no account, and never uploads your file · Print sizes and IKEA frames