Notes on QR code scanning with Webscorer
Adam Engst
We had a generally successful outing at the CHES 5K yesterday, and with 194 finishers, it was our largest race other than Turkey Trot (which remains a cold, wet memory that worked out in the end).
However, we did experience several problems with the QR code scanning system with Webscorer, triggered by random behavior on the part of elementary school 5K runners, who, as we all know, are the gold standard for random behavior. I had to use the bib scanning iPhone to give the race directors age-group award winner information, and it took us about an hour after the race to untangle the results.
This year’s random behavior was a three-way tie between:
- The two boys who decided to accompany two of their friends through the finish line in a tight pack, despite not having bibs, or possibly run the race at all.
- The two little girls who sort of accompanied their mothers across the line around the same time. One little girl had no bib, and the other was wearing a bib from another race. When they got separated in the chute, one of the mothers got peeved when told to stay in order.
- The family that finished the race together at one point, and then came back to finish again, presumably for a photo op, but threw portions of our backup timing off.
The two little boys were a problem because, in trying to sort them out, I believe I inadvertently locked my iPhone. Since the Bluetooth scanner is basically a keyboard, that meant that the other two boys who did have bibs scanned “successfully” but did not transfer to Webscorer. In other words, the scanner beeped and vibrated to indicate a good scan, but Webscorer got no data. I think this is the case because I remember the iPhone asking for my passcode at some point, but as soon as I looked at it, Face ID kicked in and that screen went away, so I incorrectly believed the scans were successful. They weren’t, so I ended up with two missing bibs at that point.
I also made the mistake of ignoring the other two little boys and telling Dave (running the time-stamp device) to delete two times from his list of times to get our numbers back in sync. That was a mistake for two reasons. First, the system deals with No Bib pretty well, and second, he inadvertently deleted a wrong time.
The two little girls just introduced confusion, but I believe I No Bibbed them correctly.
I’m unsure what happened with the family that crossed a second time, since they don’t appear on the video where they show up on the tick sheet, and when Elizabeth Dawson confirmed seeing them. Perhaps they ducked back into a blind spot for the camera, but one way or another, they ended up on the tick sheet twice. I don’t know if they got to me a second time, but it wouldn’t have mattered, since the scanner won’t record a bib that has already been scanned once.
The next problem was that for as yet unknown reasons, the Send Bibs button on my iPhone was grayed out, so I couldn’t send the bibs to Dave and we had a number of blanks we couldn’t figure out toward the end. We managed to get age group award winners out of my iPhone for the award ceremony (although the times were a bit off, since they match to when I scan rather than when they cross the line). To try to figure out what went wrong, Bob and I compared the tick sheet, and once we’d done that, Dave and I sat in the car and went over everything while exchanging email with Vesa.
- Since we weren’t able to send/receive bibs, I read them to Dave and he typed them in manually. Somewhat tedious, but fairly quick, in fact.
- The big win of this approach was that we were able, between the tick sheet, the Seiko backup, and the video, to figure out what had gone wrong in each of the situations above. We ended up having to add two taps on Dave’s phone and give them the necessary times to fix up the area around the four boys. I think untangling would have been harder if we had synced automatically.
- After three or four messages back and forth with Vesa, he suggested force quitting the Webscorer app on my iPhone, which had the desired effect of letting me send bibs. So remember, force quit—nothing will be lost—if send bibs is grayed out incorrectly. I have tried to reproduce the problem today but the Send Bibs button remains working no matter what I try.
- Dave’s phone stopped showing the Receive Bibs button at some point, but Vesa later said that was because he had no unassigned times. To get it to appear, add a time stamp that you can delete later.
So, here are the lessons we learned:
- Record ALL finishers: We should not attempt to do any editorializing on who crosses the finish line. All of us should record everyone who crosses, whether or not they have a bib or have done so already.
- Use No Bib when scanning as necessary: I should have used No Bib for the people who didn’t have one rather than ignoring them and trying to get Dave to remove taps. When sending bibs, Webscorer sends a blank for No Bib places, so Dave would have ended up with an unassigned time stamp, which is correct. No Bib entries on the bib scanning device remain after sending, so if someone couldn’t find their bib and later brought it to me, I could have added them then.
- Stay in sync for both places and times: We know it’s essential that there be the same number of times and scanned bibs, but it’s also key that they have the correct times. If you add times to get to the right number, those WILL need to be adjusted to match the actual times. Try to stay in sync at all times.
- Video backup is essential: The app I’m using that puts a stopwatch on the video is excellent, and it was so much easier to scan by time than by looking for bib numbers. If a race is big enough for QR code scanning, it’s big enough for video backup along with the tick sheet and Seiko.
For the Belle Sherman 5K at the end of the month, I’m thinking we’ll try a few things to improve our process:
- Start line announcements: People don’t understand the scanner and assume I’m fist-bumping them. We need to emphasize at the starting line that bibs must be on the front and that we have to scan finishers in the chute. We can also talk about not crossing the finish line if you don’t have a bib or have already done so. Never underestimate the elementary school 5K randomosity! (Parents as much as or more than children.)
- Finish line funnel: We talked about extending the chute in front of the finish line to funnel people in, but I’m certain that some runners will stop when they get to the start of it, rather than running to the actual finish line. So my idea is to use little track cones, either the two-inch ones or the six-inch ones, to create a funnel leading to the finish line. Hopefully, that will reduce the people who just can’t figure out where it is and then confuse us by swinging in at a sharp angle.
- Scan later in the chute: I like to stay mobile while scanning, but it can be a mistake to move forward in the chute, and everyone should be required to walk almost to the end to be scanned. That way, they’re moving more slowly and are getting to a scanning station of sorts.
- Volunteer for strong chute control: I had to stop several people from ducking under the chute before they got to me. If we have an emphatic volunteer on the outside of the chute to make sure people stay in it and stay in finish order, that will work better than having the person doing the scanning do it. When I scan, I’m heads down in that task and don’t see what’s happening behind the people being scanned.