Best ways to share start lists/results with course monitors
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Adam Engst
May 18, 2025, 10:51:30 AMMay 18
to Webscorer Users Group
We work with CNY Wilderness Search & Rescue to monitor our trail races, and it’s always been a very paper-based process. We give them start lists of runner names and numbers, and they have checkpoints around the course where they track who has gone past and communicate with one another via radio and check in with our timers throughout the race. In most of our trail races, cell service is weak or non-existent.
At a race yesterday, one of the WSAR guys was sufficiently technical and he could drive to get two bars of LTE (no service at the finish), so he got the Webscorer app and I was able to sync the start list to him via Bluetooth. That was a help, but he couldn’t start the race because he didn’t have Webscorer Pro and it was too many runners, so I couldn’t (on the spot) figure out how to give him the finisher list as runners came in. Was there a way I could have done that?
If there was connnectivity, I was thinking that I could post live results and all the WSAR people could check in as they wanted. I suspect they wouldn’t want to use Webscorer completely—most aren’t technical enough—but it could be another tool.
Are there other Webscorer options that would help WSAR track runners past checkpoints? What do other race directors do?
Thanks!
cheers… -Adam
—
Adam Engst
President, Finger Lakes Runners Club
Vesa Suomalainen
May 18, 2025, 12:44:09 PMMay 18
to Adam Engst, Webscorer Users Group
Here’s what you can do to make it as easy as possible for the safety volunteers.
To demonstrate, I posted a start list under your account with the name "Thom B. Trail Runs CHECKPOINTS” (raceid = 390518).
This race had 3 distances:
- 8.5 miles = 1 lap
- 17 miles = 2 laps
- 26.2 miles = 3 laps
In my example start list, I assumed you’d have 2 separate checkpoints per lap.
Here are the steps:
1. You’d post a start list from the app that has all settings pre-set
2. The volunteers would install the Webscorer app before the race on their phone
3. You’d get together with all safety volunteers before the race
4. You’d either perform these steps yourself with each phone, or verify that each volunteer follows these steps:
- Tap “Race with start list”
- Tap “Download start list from Webscorer.com”
- Tap “My posted start lists”
- Tap "Thom B. Trail Runs CHECKPOINTS”
- The app will auto-navigate to the “Timing Mode” panel
- Tap “Select timing point(s)”
- Select e.g. all 3 laps for CP1
- Tap “Race clock adjustment / Set race clock = Time-of-day”
- Tap “Live results / Post live results = On / Keep results private = On"
- Tap "Start race clock with adjustment”
- Tap “Fast tap view / Keypad view”
5. You’d then hand the phone back to the volunteer
- They can turn off the phone screen
- And start their journey to the checkpoint station
These steps can be done hours before the race.
If you perform these steps yourself, you can do the app login without exposing the account password to the volunteers. All the volunteer would need to know is how to key in the bib number, followed by tapping the green timer button on top to record a time stamp.
You would have e “checkpoint” device yourself where you select “Timing point = Start”, and follow the same steps plus after starting the race clock, you’d start the waves roughly on time.
After the race, you can delete the volunteer devices off your account via Organizers / My PRO devices. If you need more PRO devices than the 5 that come with the PRO Multi-device timing subscription, you can purchase more at $15 per device.
If there’s no internet connectivity at the checkpoint, the app will record all data locally and post to Webscorer.com automatically when the phone returns to cell coverage. The volunteer can check how many racers remain on course by tapping the “Progress” toolbar button (we’re adding this in the next app update - access to “Race Progress” panel is presently via “Race control / Race progress”). See attached screenshots.
In summary, several steps for you as the organizer, but few steps for the volunteers.
To demonstrate, I posted a start list under your account with the name "Thom B. Trail Runs CHECKPOINTS” (raceid = 390518).
This race had 3 distances:
- 8.5 miles = 1 lap
- 17 miles = 2 laps
- 26.2 miles = 3 laps
In my example start list, I assumed you’d have 2 separate checkpoints per lap.
Here are the steps:
1. You’d post a start list from the app that has all settings pre-set
2. The volunteers would install the Webscorer app before the race on their phone
3. You’d get together with all safety volunteers before the race
4. You’d either perform these steps yourself with each phone, or verify that each volunteer follows these steps:
- Tap “Race with start list”
- Tap “Download start list from Webscorer.com”
- Tap “My posted start lists”
- Tap "Thom B. Trail Runs CHECKPOINTS”
- The app will auto-navigate to the “Timing Mode” panel
- Tap “Select timing point(s)”
- Select e.g. all 3 laps for CP1
- Tap “Race clock adjustment / Set race clock = Time-of-day”
- Tap “Live results / Post live results = On / Keep results private = On"
- Tap "Start race clock with adjustment”
- Tap “Fast tap view / Keypad view”
5. You’d then hand the phone back to the volunteer
- They can turn off the phone screen
- And start their journey to the checkpoint station
These steps can be done hours before the race.
If you perform these steps yourself, you can do the app login without exposing the account password to the volunteers. All the volunteer would need to know is how to key in the bib number, followed by tapping the green timer button on top to record a time stamp.
You would have e “checkpoint” device yourself where you select “Timing point = Start”, and follow the same steps plus after starting the race clock, you’d start the waves roughly on time.
After the race, you can delete the volunteer devices off your account via Organizers / My PRO devices. If you need more PRO devices than the 5 that come with the PRO Multi-device timing subscription, you can purchase more at $15 per device.
If there’s no internet connectivity at the checkpoint, the app will record all data locally and post to Webscorer.com automatically when the phone returns to cell coverage. The volunteer can check how many racers remain on course by tapping the “Progress” toolbar button (we’re adding this in the next app update - access to “Race Progress” panel is presently via “Race control / Race progress”). See attached screenshots.
In summary, several steps for you as the organizer, but few steps for the volunteers.
Adam Engst
May 18, 2025, 5:31:57 PMMay 18
to Vesa Suomalainen, Webscorer Users Group
Thanks, Vesa, but I think that will be too much for the Wilderness Search & Rescue crew, especially in areas with no connectivity. They’ll just stick with their paper and radios.
Is there any way to sync results from one iPhone to another using a different non-Pro account using Bluetooth? If I could have done that, one guy at the finish could have been kept up to date with our information.
cheers… -Adam
Vesa Suomalainen
May 18, 2025, 5:40:13 PMMay 18
to Adam Engst, Webscorer Users Group
If there’s no connectivity, you can skip the live results part - and the part about starting the race on your own device. The volunteers would simply key in the bib and when they want to find out who’s still on course, tap the “Progress” toolbar icon. If you do the setup work, the remaining steps for the volunteers is less that writing down bibs on paper.
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