Questions on chip/bib read with ART
Chris Roney
I received a call this week to provide a quote for timing a local 5K, and I wanted to run a few things by the group.
This will be their second year hosting the event. Last year, they attempted to handle timing themselves after contacting a few companies but found they were either unavailable or too expensive. They ended up renting a Race Result timing system and ordering custom bibs through them. Unfortunately, the week of the race, they only received the bibs and no timing equipment. Race Result apologized and said it was too late to ship anything out. To make matters worse, they ordered 100 bibs but received and were charged 250 instead.
They tried to manage timing through the Race Result website with phone support, but it ended up being a pretty rough experience overall.
That brings me to a few questions:
She asked if it would be possible to use the bibs they already purchased with the ART timing software. I was able to read the EPC numbers without any issues, and I thought there might be a way to link or mirror the chip number with the bib number. I know this can be done within RunSignup, but I’m not sure if ART supports that functionality.
She is also using Race Roster for registration, which I haven’t worked with before (I’ve only used RunSignup). I’m currently waiting on approval to configure a test event so I can explore their timer tools.
At this point, I see a couple of possible options:
- Time the race manually using their existing bibs
- Let her know the bibs may be locked to the Race Result system, meaning she would need to use that platform again or find a timer who does
Alternatively, I could provide my standard generic bibs or order custom bibs through Marathon Printing as I typically do, though that would mean they take a loss on the bibs they already purchased.
I’d appreciate any insight you might have on this, especially regarding compatibility between ART and Race Result bibs or a way to make this work.
Thanks,
Chris
