Rally: Voice Notes on Race Day

I haven’t had the chance to use this during a race yet, but my experience so far has been incredibly positive. I originally set it up about a month ago as a surprise for my son, who was scheduled to run his first marathon on May 3. When I reached out to customer support with questions about setting it up as a surprise, they were quick to respond, helpful, and reassured me they could transfer the race messages to his account before race day. (With a recent update, you can now transfer races directly within the app, which makes it incredibly easy to set up a race as a surprise and then instantly transfer it to the runner.) Unfortunately, he ended up being hospitalized during the race and wasn’t able to run. I contacted customer support again to ask if the messages could be transferred to a future race instead. Once again, they responded promptly and were more than willing to help, letting me know they’ll transfer everything as soon as he signs up for a new race. Even though we haven’t been able to use it yet, the level of support and care they’ve shown has been outstanding. I love the concept of this app and the idea of sending encouraging messages during a race. Based on my experience so far, I can’t say enough good things about both the app and the people behind it.

Who knew I’d need something like this. Ran the 2026 LA Marathon and it was a tough hot race. The messages I got from friends and loved ones really made a difference because the race was rough, but the words of encouragement came right on time! It was a little buggy at first and kept making me restart at different miles, so I missed some messages, but then it stayed working after that. I do like you can pay to download all the messages later. I at first felt like $9.99 felt a lot, but for all those voice messages being timed and staying open during the race, it made me still laugh and smile now that I have access to listen and download. I wish I could play the ones I missed from the app mid-race, so some features could be added. I did feel like it drained my battery faster, so maybe some optimizations on the back end? But, I truly truly felt this was an amazing app and loved it! Will do it again!

I used Rally to put together a surprise for my friend who was running the Philly Marathon and the whole thing was so seamless. The idea itself is so thoughtful. Having voice messages play during a race is such a meaningful boost and as someone who has done a few half marathons I know how much those little moments of support matter. They are truly almost as impactful and important as all the training that goes into it. The app was super easy to use and the team behind it was incredibly responsive. They helped me transfer everything to my friend’s account before race day and made the whole process feel simple. You can tell they really care about the experience. This is such a creative idea and so well done. I’m excited to see it grow because it is truly something special. Highly recommend!