Recently we had an opportunity to speak with Brian Hunt, the Owner/founder at Let's Race about Let's Race

Please share with us the backstory of what motivated you to create this app.

I've been competing in running and triathlon events since 2005. I was tired of searching multiple, not user-friendly websites trying to find race information. Some sites limited results to 10 per page, you couldn't favorite, add photos, or share races. I realized if I was looking for something better, the millions of people who also compete in these races were probably also. There wasn't a good mobile solution available, so I thought, why not build it.

What features do you hope to roll out to your app in the future?

The goal with each update and new feature is to make is easier for users to find and register for races. There's a lot of white space there to work in.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of the creation of this app?

I'm a self-taught programmer. The entire experience has been incredible. I've found an affinity for Swift and iOS programming, specifically. It was fun to learn how to program features I'd seen in other apps, then design and program Let's Race. To know that the app now helps thousands of other runners and triathletes is the most rewarding result.

What is the coolest or most innovative feature of your app?

Our iOS home screen. We have industry news, pro athlete picks, user favorites, and much more. It's like a race marketplace - something that doesn't exist elsewhere. With one or two taps, users can get to registration pages and sign up for events.

What surprised you most in your journey to create this app?

The programming community is very open and supportive of each other. From Stack Overflow to YouTube, there are so many helpful resources out there. I guess having worked in other industries I expected it to be hyper-competitive and closed-off.

Which other mobile apps or technology have inspired you?

I love any app that is well designed and makes a task easier - we take a lot of them for granted in how simple they appear to the user. I keep a folder of apps that have cool features and will try and replicate them just to learn more about programming. I'm really excited about App Clips for iOS14 and how I might be able to implement that for Let's Race.

Do you have any recommendations or advice for others wanting to create a mobile app?

Go for it. I only had a little HTML programming background before I started Let's Race. If you have an idea that you think will help others, see what you can create. There's never been a better time to get started - SwiftUI has blown my mind with how little code is required to create certain features.

How did you decide which platforms to release your app on and do you plan on releasing your app to other platforms?

We first released on iOS and then I hired a developer to port the app to Android a month later. We continue to support both platforms, though some features differ.

How is your app different than the rest of the market? Which unique need does it fill?

Let's Race pulls together different race types (running, triathlon, obstacle, cycling, swimming) into one place. "1000s of race in 1 app," we say. Instead of having to search different websites, we pull as much event data as we can find into the app. It's designed to be fast and easy to search. Users can quickly search by event distance, location, and more. We've also innovated a lot of features grouping races together (by brand, season of year) - we want to give users lots of ways to find what they are looking for.

You can view Let's Race here