Just under a year ago, I kept hearing the word “Runkeeper” bandied around the office. I was a little intrigued, but admittedly I had absolutely no idea what on earth this tool did.

I’d completely fallen out of the loop; an iPhone equipped techie (the only one in the office) and I had no idea what on earth this application was all about. The shame of it.

A colleague later explained that this application tracks and catalogues your daily exercise, whilst presenting your activities within a Facebook-like interface where you could “Like” and comment on your buddies’ jogging and activities.

Since university, I’ll admit, exercising really wasn’t that important. I’d played a fair bit of football throughout my early years – not to that good of a level, but enough to keep fit – but since I’d enrolled at college my most strenuous activity would be the lifting of a pint glass or moving from my bed to the computer desk to settle down into another session of Championship Manager.

Last year though, that changed and I decided to give the Runkeeper a go. Very quickly I became addicted with this application and celebrating my “Street Teammates” activities with a click of the Like button or a cheeky comment and praise for their efforts.

Then, within a few months, I noticed my runs were getting longer and quicker; all thanks to the statistics charts and time keeping tool within this app. I was hooked. This tool had changed my daily life, no longer would I go home and watch TV, this would be the way I would choose to spend my Monday and Tuesday evenings.

I was then able to cheer on as my work colleague completed the Tokyo Marathon, and even watch his progress live 300 miles away via Runkeeper. Unbelievable.

In my workplace of around only ten people, five are regular Runkeeper users. I suspect that the developers of this tool will enjoy huge success over the coming years as people take on a new healthier way of life.

This is a great example of how software change lives for the better, thank you very much Runkeeper!