Update 3/22 – Email sent 3/12/2020 before our St Patrick Day Races before mass gatherings were restricted.
This email is being sent to our race directors for this upcoming weekend and your timer may have already been in contact with some of the information below.
As people are becoming more aware of hygiene practices this Spring, Competitive Timing can implement some easy steps to improve upon our participants hygiene practices at our events.
Please take a moment to consider if you would like us to implement any of the following steps and please coordinate with your race timer on how to best implement any or all of these practices as well as how to communicate these changes to your participants ahead of time.
As you know, normally Competitive Timing provides result kiosks at the finish line where participants can type in their bib number on a key pad and receive a personalized result sticker. Although the result stickers are a nice way to receive results, the process isn’t the most hygienic with hundreds of participants sharing the keypads. We suggest for the time being to not offer the result kiosks and instead highlight result services we already implement at our races:
1) Competitive Timing App.
We now have an app with your race information and the option for live tracking! As mentioned in the email to you the other day, there are three different levels race directors can choose in for the app for their event with additional features at each level. At the premiere level is live tracking, live result notifications, and live result ranking, but all levels even the free basic level, contain links to the results for your race as well as links to register. Suggesting to participants to download the Competitive Timing App is a straightforward way for participants to obtain their results, no matter what level you opted for your race. More info on the levels within the event app and how to download the app, here.
2) Text and Email Result Notifications
a. RunSignUp offers free text messaging and email result notifications for those that use its registration platform. To allow participants to signup for these free notifications in the Dashboard of RSU go to RaceDay Tools >> Results >> Setup Result Notifications & Links and allow participants to sign up for text message and email notifications.
b. Once setup, an email from RSU’s platform, or your own email marketing platform, must be sent to your current participants instructing them how to signup for notifications. If these were turned on when you first opened registration, then registrants get the option to sign up for notifications during the registration process.
c. To sign up for notifications after the registration process head to your registration page, click “Participant Tracking”, find the participant you’d like a notification, perhaps it’s yourself, then click the Result Notification button next to the name, and enter the cell number/email.
d. As results become available, these notifications will be sent out which typically is moments after someone finishes.
3) QR Code Results
In lieu of result kiosks, Competitive Timing can place posters at the result tent with a scannable QR code that can goes directly to the results on the participants code. With most phones, simply opening the camera and pointing it at the QR code will open the result page for your event. For those that aren’t as tech savvy, the poster can simply direct them to our website where results will be posted throughout your event as well as mention that results can be obtained within our app.
Update 3/22 – as mass gatherings restrictions are lessened and events start to happen, it may be prudent to eliminate the signage at the timing tent to ensure no congregating around QR codes or messaging. Appropriate messaging can be communicated via email marketing the night before the event on where to expect results to be posted (online).
4) Late Registration/Packet Pickup
In addition to our key pads at the result kiosks, registration computers are also a surface that gets heavy shared public use. Online registration can remain open through the start of your event and we can use scannable QR codes that that direct participants to the registration page for your event. Having registration occur on participants personal devices is a more hygienic practice than sharing laptops are registration. Alternatively, we can direct participants to our app where there is a clear link to register. It also may be worth promoting for participants to pre-register at home instead of waiting until packet pickup. Of course, for those less tech saavy, Competitive Timing can still provide registration laptops.
Update 3/22 – as mass gatherings restrictions are lessened and events start to happen, it may be prudent to eliminate any in person race day registration,
or registration via laptops on race day. Furthermore, registrants without a smartphone to register themselves, could be registered via a volunteer without the the registrant touching a shared laptop.
We hope that these practices can improve hygiene at your event from the timing/results perspective. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns and work with your timer if want to implement any of these options.