How Tos / Recommendations / Training / Best Practices

[Brian Agee]

Topic: Thread Introduction

Contributor: Brian Agee

Company: Agee Race Timing

Location: Jonesboro, AR USA

I wanted to start a thread where we cover one topic at a time in great detail. This will be a big benefit and a perfect starting point for new timers. Hopefully experienced timers will also learn things that will allow them to expand the services they offer.

Anyone is free to contribute, but my plan is for this thread to be "locked". The software updates thread is an example of a locked thread. This means that only I can post to it the thread and no replies are allowed. This way the educational content is not buried by all of the responses. Many of you are experts in areas that I know very little about, so I hope that people will share their expertise for the benefit of others. Maybe we'll see posts from other companies that want to post educational content about their platform or products (not sales pitches, but how-to guides).

If you would like to contribute please follow the format above (Title, Contributor, Company, and Location) and send the content to: AgeeRac...@Gmail.com

I'll review it to make sure it's formatted correctly, useful, and complete and then copy/paste your contribute in the thread. Remember that posts on this thread are meant to be as exhaustive as possible on the given topic. So screenshots, videos, step-by-step guides, or anything else to make it easy to understand are highly encouraged.

If there is a topic you would like to see covered then let me know. If anything needs to be added or corrected in an existing post, then of course I'd be happy to append or alter information as needed to make sure the content is accurate and current.

Off the top of my head here are some topics that I plan to start off with:

1. Setting up backup systems to prevent disaster.
2. Setting up and using the free RunSignUp Race Day tools.
3. Setting up the results kiosk.
4. Questions you MUST ask the race director prior to race day (and other things you should do before race day).
5. New to timing and not sure how much to charge for timing services? What about travel, complicated or long events, and add-on services?
6. Ready to move beyond offering basic timing services? What services should I consider adding for my customers?
7. What timer's tools are currently available if I prefer to use RaceEntry or RaceRoster?
8. Preparing for and timing Cross Country meets.

[Brian Agee]

Topic: Setting up backup systems to prevent disaster.

Contributor: Brian Agee

Company: Agee Race Timing

Location: Jonesboro, AR USA

I'm assuming that I'm not the only timer that has had dreams (actually nightmares) where something prevents you from getting to the finish line, or some failure of some kind, and it causes you to be in a spot where people are coming in and you're not at all ready to capture their times. In these nightmares I didn't have any backup system in place either. So you wake up in panic realizing that you're totally screwed and everyone's probably going to hate you. I actually had that dream last night, and that's what inspired me to start this thread and make this the first post in the thread.

Over the years I've talked to many customers that have told me that they don't have any kind of backup system in place. This scares me because no matter what system you're using, there are many points of possible failure that can ruin your reputation as a timer. Off the top of my head here are just a few:

1. Computer (hardware failure or windows update during race)
2. Reader
3. Power supply
4. Volunteers handing out bibs
5. Participants following instructions
6. You getting at the race on time (a gate unexpectedly locked, can't find the exact finish line location, weather, oversleeping (a cardinal sin!), etc.) 
7. Race Director (or volunteers) showing up late or throwing curve balls at you on race day that you have to deal with.

So I consider it very irresponsible for a timer to not have at least one backup system in place, especially considering how inexpensive and easy it is to set one up.

Here are some ideas on backup systems:

1. Manual Timing Backup System

There is no extra cost to install and use the ART software on any computer you own. So if you have a second laptop then install ART on it and have a race volunteer (assuming you're a one-person operation like myself) to sit next to you at the finish and simply press the spacebar any time someone crosses the finish line. This simply captures a finishing time in the system. Don't have them do anything more than press the spacebar (or the USB plunger if you have one). This way they have one simple job to do and typically do it well.

Prior to race day, open the race in the software and click on "View Reports" and print off the "Bib Number Sheet" report. Place this on a clipboard and hand it to another racey day volunteer. This volunteer will stand at the END of the finish line chute so that they can see bib numbers easily as finishers are walking out of the end of the chute. If it's a larger race or if there is another volunteer available, have someone standing next to them calling bib #s out in order so that the person writing down bib numbers does have to constantly look up and down to document everything.

    

So if you have a chip that is not read for some reason, you can glance over and see the finish time and also easily get the bib # of that finisher from the other volunteer and manually enter it into the system.

If something worse happens and your main timing system goes down for a few minutes for some reason, then get your main system back up and running and use the backup system to simply fill in the gap. Do not totally give up on your main timing system if you can get it back up again.

If (God forbid!) the main timing system does completely go down and will not come back up, then of course you can start manually entering bib #s in order into the backup system and do results that way. Do not panic, just wait for breaks in the action and have the person with the bib # sheet call out bib #s so that they can be entered into the backup computer. Typically there is plenty of time in the latter part of the race to enter all bib #s as you're waiting on the slower participants to come in.

2. Video Backup System

Camcorders are not very expensive and they're super easy to set up. The hardest part of having a camcorder is remembering to turn it on and start recording right before the first finisher comes in. It doesn't take a fancy camcorder to get an image good enough to pick out bib #s at the finish line if you needed to do so. Even the inexpensive camcorders I have will record for about 2 hours on a single charge, which for most races would at least cover all of the award winners. You're not having a good day if you're having to resort to watching the finish line video to do results, however think about how much worse you'd be if you didn't at least have the finish line video to go off of. 

Besides being an easy and reliable backup system, having a video of the finish line can also help you settle any disputes between finishers. Camcorders are so small and easy to transport that it's easy to use it to capture the start and the finish of the race. There have been plenty of times in the past where I've used the video to confirm someone's start or finish time.

It should be very rare that you need to reference the video to do results. That doesn't mean the video was a waste though. It's totally free to upload the finish line video to YouTube and share it with the participants - they love this of course. Your online registration provider may also have the ability to link the YouTube video to the results (see example).

Some camcorders let you charge them while recording. If you have one that does, then buy a 32+GB memory card and a small battery pack to ensure you can make it through ultras. Otherwise buy a couple of camcorders and when you see that one is about to die, start recording with the second one and then switch camcorders and charge the first one while the second one is recording.

Windows 10 has an easy and nice video editing program built in that allows you to easily merge video files together and create one continuous video prior to uploading it to YouTube. I'll try to create a whole new post about basica video editing in this thread, but in the meantime you can find this built-in editor by typing in "Video Editor" in the windows 10 search bar at the bottom left of your screen.

Tip: In the video editing software I mute the audio, this way I don't have to worry about YouTube taking it down because of music copyrights and I don't have to worry about someone saying something that someone else might be offended by.

A GoPro will work of course, but I don't like to spend a lot of money on equipment that may get stolen or damaged because of the weather. So I have the following camcorders:

• Kodak PlaySport
• Kodak Zi8
• Sony Handycam
• Polaroid Xs100i (I wouldn't recommend this unit because it doesn't have a screen, so you have no idea how long until it's dead)

Recommended accessories:

• 32+GB memory card
• Tripod

3. Photo backup system

The software will automatically trigger compatible Canon DSLR cameras and WIA compatible cameras (Nikon and other brands) to take a picture whenever a chip or manual time is captured. There is no configuration required except for selecting "Canon DSLR" or "Wia Compatible" in the Settings screen.

Compatible canon models:

   

My head timer prefers to hook up the camera to the manual backup system, this way if a chip is missed you'll at least have a photo of them assuming the person running the manual backup system captured their time. However I prefer to hook the camera up to the chip timing computer because I don't trust the attention span and reaction time of a race day volunteer. :)  For very large races I will actually hook up a camera to both computers so that I should have at least one photo of every finisher.

Just like with the camcorder, the photos can be uploaded and shared with the participants after the race. Your online registration provider may allow for uploading photos to the event page. See the sample link I provided above to see how it looks on RunSignUp. So the camcorder and camera are providing valuable services for you and your customers.

Models I have:

• Canon Xsi
• Canon T3
• Canon T3i

Recommended accessories:

• 8+GB memory card
• Tripod
• 15' USB cable (or whatever cable your camera needs to hook it up to your laptop - use this for Canon cameras)

Make sure you turn the power saver mode off so that the camera will not turn off prior to the first finisher coming in. The camera battery will easily last all day long, so unlike the camcorder, there is no need to wait until you see the first finisher to turn it on.

4. Secondary RFID system?

I know that some people do this, and I used to do it for a few multi-thousand participant races we've timed. However I've gotten away from this because these reasons:

1. Time and effort of setting up a completely separate chip timing system simply hasn't been worth it so far.
2. The times will either be early or late depending on where you set it up.
3. We feel very comfortable with the reliability and performance of the main timing system, and our ability to handle it even if the main system did have a problem.

[Brian Agee]

Topic: RunSignUp Timer Tools

Contributor: Brian Agee

Company: Agee Race Timing

Location: Jonesboro, AR USA

Video: https://youtu.be/YRLJ2FIdtts

If you're not familiar with how to pull/push races, athletes, and results to and from RunSignUp then you should start by reviewing this document: ART > RSU Integration Guide

Even if a race did not use RunSignUp for registration, I nearly always “push” the race up to RunSignUp from within the timing software so that I can use all of the free race day tools they offer. If someone does not want to use RunSignUp for some reason, then I believe the next best option would be RaceEntry because they too have a mobile app that can be used for dynamic bib assignment. However as far as I'm aware, RunSignUp is light years ahead when it comes to the timers tools that make things run smoother and that give our races a professional experience when we show up to time their race.

Here is an overview of the race day tools I use and how to set them up:

RaceDay CheckIn & Dynamic Bib # Assignment

Purpose and benefits:

In the past I would pre-assign bib #s and print off a roster that the volunteers would use to find and give the participant the bib # that was assigned to them in the system. For larger races you can have multiple lines separated by the first letter of the participants last name (A-G, H-M, N-T, U-Z). This process creates bottlenecks and if long lines form. With this fixed setup it's not easy to add bandwidth to help with the congestion if you find that the lines are frustratingly long. If you've been timing long enough you've probably also had situations where the race volunteer would hand out random bib numbers to the participants instead of looking at the Roster and handing them their assigned bib number.

Another potential headache is having different stacks of bibs and the roster reports laid out in windy conditions. Plus what if the volunteer or participant finds that information on the roster is incorrect? They must now send this participant to you so that you can fix them in the timing software.

When the race is over you're typically left with a bunch of random bib #'s from participants that registered but never showed up. Additionally, since you pre-assigned bib numbers, the timing software now includes participants that truly are not participating because they didn't show up. So the software cannot give you a good estimate on the number of participants that are actually on the course. Unless you use the “Scan DNS” bibs feature, but for a shorter race (like a 5K) getting the time to scan DNS tags is difficult before the first finishers come in.

The free RaceDay CheckIn app solves (or substantially reduces) all of these headaches. Plus it just looks and feels more professional – because it is...

With dynamic bib assignment you're not left with random bib numbers after the race and you do not need to print a roster or separate out bibs. It's very easy to add additional workers at the CheckIn area if things get congested. The CheckIn volunteers can freely walk around to assign bib numbers instead of being stuck behind a table. You can also give the volunteers the ability to update the participants information themselves instead of having to send everyone to you to fix them in the timing software. Finally the timing software will have a much more accurate estimate of the number of people actually participating in the race because the “Sync” feature by default only pulls in participants that were assigned a bib number on RunSignUp.

If I know I'm timing a race in an area that may not have cell coverage or internet availability then the night before the race I'll import all participants, pre-assign bib numbers, and print a roster off like I used to do in the past. I'll then make a copy of the database and put it somewhere easy to find on my computer. This way if I arrive on site and realize that I cannot use the dynamic bib assignment I can easily point the software to the database that has bib #'s pre-assigned and everyone imported and just do things the 'old school' way.

Setup Instructions:  

• Log in to RunSignUp's website and open the race.

• On the left side of the screen click on RaceDay Tools > RaceDay CheckIn > Mobile App

• Enter a password and a password hint.      

  • Make sure the password is easy to remember and easy for volunteers to enter on their phone. You can always come in here and change the password if you forget it. 

• I always set the “Enable CheckIn At” date value to the current date/time (or some time in the past) so that I can immediately test it on my phone to make sure it works.

• I always set the “Disable CheckIn At” date value to a few hours AFTER the race should be over. This way if someone shows up late and still wants to run we can still check them in and assign them a bib #.

Now you're ready to test it on your phone. Open the RaceDay CheckIn app on your phone (it's free if you need to install it).

• Search for the race and click on it.
  
• Enter the password that you setup above.
  
• Click “Participants” (At this point you should see your list of participants.)

Now I setup an “Admin” profile that allows myself (and others working the Check-In table) to alter the participants information if needed.

     

• Click on the Gear icon at the top    right of the app.

• Click “Edit Default Preset”.

• Below are typical changes that I make for a simple 5K/10K race. Obviously I may choose different settings depending on the race I'm timing.     

• • Check In Steps:

    • Make Bib Number “Required”

    • Check “Clear Search After Check In”

  • Information Display:         

    • Uncheck “Waiver Signed”

    • Uncheck “Registration Date”

    • Check “Choose an Athlete Type” (or whatever custom questions you setup that is important for results).

  • Information Changes:          

    • Check “Allow Event Transfers” if you're timing more than one race that day.

    • Check “Allow Clear Bib”

    • Check “Allow Giveaway Edits”

    • Check “Allow Personal Info Edits”

    • Check “Allow “Choose an Athlete Type” Edits

  • I do not make any changes in the “Advanced Options” section.
     

• Click “Save” and then scroll down and click on “Upload Configuration”.

• Give it any name you want and click “Save”.

• Now have your race volunteers working the check in area to download the app, select the race,  enter the password, select “Participants”, click on the Gear icon, scroll down and click on “Use [whatever you named the configuration we setup above]”.

Clear assigned Bib Numbers

If bib numbers were being assigned automatically in RunSignUp as people registered, then we'll want to clear those bib numbers if you plan to dynamically assign bib numbers through the Check In App. You can do this by opening the race on RunSignUp and clicking on RaceDay Tools > Bibs > Assign Bibs & Chips > Clear Assigned Bib and Chip Numbers. Select each race occurring at the event you're timing and click the “Clear Bib and Chip Assignments” button.

At this point everything is setup and ready to go. Essentially you're letting RunSignUp being the 'master database' of participants. So if you have any athletes in the timing software that you pulled in from RunSignUp then you should delete them from the timing software.

Now you're ready to test everything...   Open the CheckIn app and check in a few participants. Then in the timing software make sure the “Require Bib #” checkbox is checked and click “Sync”. You should see that only the athletes that you checked in are pulled into the timing software. You should also check to make sure that you have all of the 'admin' features available – like editing a participants personal information, changing their event, and clearing their bib number and un-checking them in from within the CheckIn app.

At any point you can delete the participants from the timing software and re-Sync them if needed.

One of the nice features built into the app that I frequently use is the “CheckIn Stats” report that is available when you click the three horizontal bars at the top left of the app. That shows the number and percentage of people that registered that have checked in.

Paperless Registration

Purpose and benefits:

Manually entering paper registrations is not a fun process. First you have to hope that everything is filled out that you need for the results to be accurate, second you have hope that you can read the participants handwriting, and third you hope that a bus full of participants doesn't show up and want to register right before the race is scheduled to begin.

There is also a concern about running out of registration forms or printing so many extra that it's a waste of paper and ink.

Setup Instrucionts:

Instead of dealing with paper registration forms you can allow three different forms of electronic registration.

1.  Participants can register themselves from their own phones by searching for the race on RunSignUp and registering, or they can scan a QR code that takes them straight to the registration page on RunSignUp. You can provide a QR code that takes them straight to the race page by clicking on Promotion > Links, or even better I like to take them to the "Expo Mode" site because it doesn't require them to create an account or sign into RunSignUp. You can access that QR code by clicking on Race Day Tools > On Site Registration

2. You can have on or more volunteers using their own phone to register participants using the RunSignup “expo mode” registration site.   

3. You can also set out a few laptops with the “expo mode” RunSignUp website pulled up so that people can register themselves on a computer.

This removes the burden having to enter everyone's information into the system. With less people's hands touching the data, the data that ends up in the timing software should be cleaner. If someone's information is not correct, the participant knows it was their mistake and not yours. Electronic registration also allows you to ensure you gather the required information for the participants before they can get into the race. You can also accept credit/debit card payments instead of just cash or check payments.

Scrolling results

Uploading Photos

Email

[Brian Agee]

I was working on this post while my wife was driving to our destination (family vacation) and we hit a bump right when my mouse just happen to be over the "Post message" button. So instead of deleting the original message I'll finish the topics on a follow up post.

[Brian Agee]

Live Scrolling Results

Purpose and benefits:

Setting up live scrolling results gives the participants something fun to check out during the race, helps keep people away from the timing table, helps catch potential problems prior to the official results being printed, and of course this is just another add-on service you can offer and  makes you look more professional.

What's great about offering this is that it's fairly simple to set up prior to race day, it doesn't require volunteers or timing personnel to manage, and once you set it up on race day you can just forget about it. This simply requires a TV, TV Stand, HDMI cable, and a computer connected to the internet. For example I set up a TV for each race I was timing (Marathon, Half, and 5K) for the White River Marathon - the TV's where set up a few miles away where they were going to call 

Setup Instructions

1. After you've created the race(s) in ART and have them linked to an event on RunSignUp, simply open the Clock screen (pull all races in that you're timing) and click on "Publish Results" in the Action Keys tab. This pushes up a blank result set that we'll need in the steps below. You DO NOT need to start the clock to push up a blank result set.

• IMPORTANT: Once you've pushed up the blank result set, you SHOULD NOT click on the "Delete" link under "Publish Results" because that will delete the result set ID's that we need for the Live Leaderboard feature. If you click "Delete", then you will need to click "Publish Results" again and update the "Result Set ID" mentioned below. If for some reason you needed to clear results on RunSignUp, use the "Clear" link, this leaves the result set on RunSignUp, it simply clears the results from it. So you're welcome to test the "Live Leaderboard" feature before race day to make sure it works, just make sure you "clear" the result set after you're done testing.

2. Open the Race website (as the participants would see it) and click on the Results link.

3. Use the drop down box and select each "Result Set" and copy the URL that appears. For example at the White River Marathon I had three TV's set up showing scrolling results. Here are the result set URL's for these races:

• 5K:  https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/72027#resultSetId-355712;perpage:100
• Half:  https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/72027#resultSetId-355713;perpage:100
• Marathon:  https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/72027#resultSetId-356091;perpage:100

4. For each event, copy the values I put in bold above. The first number in bold is the EventID, the second number in bold is the Result Set ID. We'll need these for the next couple of steps.

5. Open RunSignUp.com and access the race admin page where you can see the menu items on the left.

• Click on RaceDay Tools > Results > Set Up Results Notifications & Links
• 
  

6. Copy the URL circled below: 

• RunSignUp will put the EventID in there for you, but here is the outline of the URL we're looking for: https://runsignup.com/Race/LiveLeaderboard/<EventID>/<Result-Set-ID> 
• 
  

7. On each computer that will show live scrolling results, enter the URL for the result set that TV will display.

• For example the TV showing 5K results would use this URL: https://runsignup.com/Race/LiveLeaderboard/72027/355712

8. Finally, you can use the Gear icon at the top right of the Live Leaderboard website to change the scroll rate, font size, fields that are displayed, and how often the website refreshes itself.

[Brian Agee]

Attaching an EletroNumeric race clock to an Audio 2000 tripod:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lri5qmxl1JY