Terms of Service

Agreement to These Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Running.org - the Running.org website and web app and our mobile apps (together, the "Service"), operated by Running.org ("we", "our", or "us"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

Accounts & Eligibility

You need an account to use most of the Service. You must be at least 16 years old. You are responsible for the accuracy of your account information, for keeping your credentials secure and for all activity that happens under your account. Notify us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.

Clubs & Events

The Service lets you create and join running clubs, organise events and manage attendance. Club administrators are responsible for the clubs and events they run, including the accuracy of event details and the conduct of their events. Where an event requires payment, checkout confirms your place: paying for a required ticket registers your attendance.

Event payments and refunds. Event fees are set by the organising club and collected through Stripe to the club's connected account. Refunds for event payments are at the discretion of the organising club and are issued by a club administrator through the Service. We are not the merchant of record for club events and are not responsible for a club's refund decisions.

Race Photo Marketplace

The Service includes a marketplace where photographers sell race photos and runners buy them.

Buyers

When you buy a photo, you receive a licence to download and use that photo for your own personal, non-commercial use. You do not acquire copyright or any right to resell the photo. Because photo purchases are delivered as an immediate digital download, all sales are final except where the photo is defective or wrongly delivered, or where a refund is required by law; refund requests are handled through the Service.

Selling Photographers

If you sell photos, you represent that you own or have the rights to the photos you upload and to sell them, and that they do not infringe any third party's rights. You are responsible for complying with the law that applies to photographing and selling images of people at the events you cover. To receive payouts, you must onboard through Stripe Connect and agree to Stripe's terms; payouts, our service fee and Stripe's processing fees are applied to each sale as shown at the time of sale. You grant us the licence needed to host, process, display and deliver your photos through the Service, including generating search data so buyers can find themselves in a gallery. You may remove your galleries subject to our need to retain records of completed sales.

The Service is a sales channel for your photos, not an archive. Original files of photos that have not been purchased are retained for a limited period - at least 15 months from upload - after which we may delete them. Watermarked previews remain so your galleries stay browsable, but a photo whose original file has been deleted can no longer be purchased. Original files of purchased photos are retained so buyers keep access to their downloads. You should keep your own copies of your photos; you can download your original files from the Service at any time before they are deleted.

Training Plans

Training plans and any related pace, time or performance calculations are provided for general informational purposes only. They are not medical, health or professional coaching advice. Running carries inherent risks; consult a qualified professional before starting or changing a training programme, and train within your own limits. You use training plans and tools at your own risk.

Subscriptions

Some features are offered as paid subscriptions (for example, Photographer Pro). Subscriptions are billed in advance on a recurring basis through Stripe and renew automatically until cancelled. You can cancel at any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period, and you retain access to the subscription's features until then. Except where required by law, subscription payments are non-refundable. We may change subscription prices with reasonable notice, effective from your next billing period.

Your Content

You retain ownership of the content you submit - photos, profile details, forum posts, messages and other material. You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide licence to host, store, reproduce and display your content solely to operate and provide the Service. You are responsible for your content and represent that you have the rights to submit it and that it does not violate these Terms or any law.

Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Break the law or infringe anyone's rights when using the Service.
• Upload content that is unlawful, harassing, hateful, deceptive or infringing, or that you do not have the rights to.
• Attempt to access accounts, data or areas of the Service you are not authorised to use.
• Interfere with, disrupt, scrape or overload the Service or its infrastructure.
• Use race photos or search features to identify or track people without a lawful basis.

Third-Party Services

The Service integrates with third parties such as Stripe, Strava, Garmin and connected photo libraries (Flickr, OneDrive, Google Photos). Your use of those services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for third-party services and do not control their availability.

Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for loss of data, profits or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

Termination

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you breach these Terms or use the Service in a way that harms other users, us or third parties. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination - including content licences for completed sales, payment and refund records, and the disclaimers and liability limits above - survive.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated Terms on this page and update the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us at terms@running.org.