Add a Live Pace Overlay to Your Running Videos on iPhone (Free)

Why runners want pace on the video, not just in an app

Pace is the runner's number. Not top speed, not average speed in km/h, but minutes per kilometer or mile. It is how you talk about a run, how a coach reads your effort, and how a race recap proves the splits. When that number lives only inside a separate tracking app, your video is just footage of someone running. When it is burned into the frame, the video becomes content.

That is the gap most running creators hit. A run-with-me vlog, a marathon-training log, a parkrun recap, a half-marathon build-up series: every one of them is stronger when the viewer can see your pace climb on a hill and settle on the flats, in real time, on screen. The usual fix is to export the run from a tracking app, screen-record the stats, and composite them over the footage in an editor. That is hours of work for a number your phone already knows.

SplitRig bakes the pace straight into the recording as you run. It is free, it has no subscription and no account, and it works on the iPhone you already carry, from iPhone 11 up.

How to add a live pace overlay to your running videos

Pace is the hero overlay here, and it sits alongside distance and a goal gauge so the full picture of the run is on screen at once.

1. Open SplitRig and grant location access (the pace, distance, and goal overlays read GPS).
2. Tap the widget picker in the control tray.
3. Turn on Pace. It shows minutes per kilometer or mile, picked automatically from your iPhone's region.
4. Add Distance and the Goal Gauge if you want the full runner's dashboard.
5. Drag each one where you want it and pinch to resize. Position is remembered per orientation, so you set it once and it stays for every run.
6. Tap record. The pace updates live and is composited into the video on the GPU, frame-aligned with the footage.

Because the overlay is written into the file as you run, there is no overlay app, no editor, and no post step. The number you saw on screen is the number in the finished video. For the underlying speed number and the technical detail on how GPS overlays are composited, see the best speedometer overlay app for cycling guide.

The run-with-me shot: your face and the route in one video

A run-with-me vlog works best when the viewer sees both you and where you are going. SplitRig records the front and rear cameras at the same time into one synced file, so you do not have to choose. Two layouts fit running:

• Picture-in-Picture. The route ahead fills the frame from the rear camera, and your face sits in a small movable bubble. Best for talking to camera while the road rolls behind you.
• Split Screen. Your face on one half, the route on the other, with an adjustable 30 to 70 percent ratio so you can give whichever view more room.

Both keep the pace, distance, and goal overlays on top, so a run-with-me clip can show your face, the route, and your live splits in a single take. If you would rather have one clean shot of the road with the stats on it, Single Camera drops the front feed and keeps every overlay. For a full walkthrough of recording both cameras, see how to record both cameras on iPhone.

Running-specific control that survives the bounce

Running is the hardest activity to control a phone during. Your arms swing, the phone is strapped down or in a pocket, and you do not want to break stride to tap a screen. SplitRig is built for that.

• Apple Watch. Start and stop, switch layout, change zoom with the Digital Crown, and grab a screenshot, all from your wrist. Runners already wear a watch, so this is the natural control surface.
• Hold-to-Stop survives arm jitter. The stop is a press-and-hold, and it stays engaged even if your finger slides around on the button while your arm bounces. The hold only ends when you actually lift your finger, so a jittery touch mid-stride will not cancel the stop.
• Steady pace at water stops and crossings. When you stop at a light or a water station, iPhones throttle GPS to save power, which used to make the on-screen speed flash an empty dash. SplitRig now holds the reading steady for up to 60 seconds while you are standing still, instead of the 5 seconds it uses while moving, so the number stays put through a pause instead of flickering.
• AirPods, volume buttons, Camera Control. A stem press on AirPods (iOS 26 with the H2 chip, on AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4, or AirPods Pro 3) starts and stops recording. Volume Down records and Volume Up screenshots. On iPhone 16 and later, the Camera Control button works too.

That no-flicker behavior matters most on interval runs and road crossings, where you stop and start repeatedly and want the baked-in pace to read cleanly through every pause.

The Goal Gauge for target runs and races

Set a distance target and the Goal Gauge draws a bar that fills as you cover the ground. For a 10K tempo run, a long-run build, or a race recap, the filling bar adds a clear sense of progress that a raw distance number does not. The viewer watches it creep toward full as you close the last kilometer, which is exactly the tension a marathon-training log or a race-day video wants.

It pairs naturally with the pace and distance overlays: pace tells the effort, distance tells how far, and the goal bar tells how much is left. All three are independent, positioned wherever you like, and baked into the same final video.

Mounts for running

How you carry the phone shapes the shot:

• Armband. Easiest to fit, but the footage swings with your arm. Fine for a casual run-with-me where motion reads as energy.
• Chest strap. The steadiest point of view for a forward route shot, level with where your eyes look. Best for race recaps and scenic-route logs.
• Neck or POV mount. Keeps the route centered and your hands free, with a slight bob from your stride.
• Handheld. Best for talking to camera in Picture-in-Picture, though your arm will tire on a long run.

Whatever the mount, SplitRig's automatic cinematic stabilization runs on both cameras, and Action Cam mode (ultra-wide 0.5x, Cinematic Extended stabilization, 60 fps) smooths the hardest high-motion footage.

Battery and heat on long runs

GPS plus dual-camera recording is heavy, and a marathon or a long training block can outlast a naive recording app. Three things keep SplitRig rolling:

• 24 fps Cinematic mode cuts roughly 20 percent of the thermal load versus 30 fps, with a filmic look that suits a long steady run.
• Eco Mode dims the screen about 10 seconds in to save battery. Tap to wake it; recording continues regardless.
• Iron Stream thermal management steps the frame rate down gradually (30, then 24, then 20, then 15 fps) if the phone warms up, so the recording keeps going instead of cutting out. There is no time limit on a recording.

One honest note: filming in direct sun warms any iPhone, no app can change physics, and the worst case is a temporary dip in smoothness rather than a lost file.

Does the pace overlay work on a treadmill?

No. Pace, distance, and the goal gauge all read GPS, and GPS needs a clear view of the sky. On a treadmill the phone sees no movement, so pace reads as a placeholder. This is the same limitation indoor cyclists hit on a turbo trainer, covered in the cycling speedometer guide. The non-GPS overlays (duration, sound level, watermark) still work indoors, and the dual-camera recording itself works fine on a treadmill if you want the face-plus-screen shot without the live pace.

Frequently asked

How do I add a pace overlay to my running video on iPhone? Open SplitRig, grant location, turn on the Pace widget in the control tray, and record. Your real-time pace in minutes per km or mile is baked straight into the video, with no editing.

What is the best running vlog app for iPhone? SplitRig, for run-with-me content. It bakes pace, distance, and a goal gauge into the footage, films your face and the route at once, and is controlled from your Apple Watch. Free.

Can I record my face and the route at the same time? Yes. Picture-in-Picture floats your face over the route, or Split Screen puts them side by side, both in one synced file with the pace overlay on top.

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