Keep Your Races: CheckIn App Beyond Bib Assignment

Event Information

In this session, we’ll walk through the full capability of the RaceDay CheckIn App and show you how offering it across every race you service makes you harder to replace and more valuable to every organizer on your roster. The flexibility of the CheckIn app means it can be used for any race, no matter the size or whether using pre-assigned or dynamic bibs.

What we’ll cover:

• Why the Check-In App is one of the most valued products by race directors — and how to use that to your advantage
• How the Check-In App works for any race
• The full feature set: info changes, swag management, label printing, and real-time reports
• Using the app to support volunteer management on race day
• Setting up a Results Kiosk to give participants instant access to their finish data

Part of Keep Your Races: A Race Retention Series for Timers

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Webinar Overview

This session of the Race Retention for Timers series focuses on expanding the use of the RaceDay CheckIn App beyond dynamic bib assignment. The central message is that the app can support almost any race, regardless of size or bib-assignment method, and timers can use these additional capabilities to solve operational problems for race directors and strengthen their value as a race-day partner.

The adoption numbers reinforce that point: in 2025, 50% of races used the RaceDay CheckIn App, 60% of participants were checked in through it, 18,500 races used it, and 7.3 million participants were checked in. Those races ranged from small events with 200 or fewer participants to an event checking in 26,800 people.

Why Use CheckIn Without Dynamic Bib Assignment?

Dynamic bib assignment is only one capability. The app can expedite packet pickup while synchronizing participant changes with registration, bib numbers, scoring, and other parts of the RaceDay ecosystem. That makes it useful as a single source of truth for race-day participant information.

For timers, this means the app can add value to races with:

• Preassigned or automatically assigned bibs.
• Multiple event types, such as relays, individual events, and kids races.
• Additional information that needs to be collected at packet pickup.
• New or additional waivers requiring signatures.
• Participants changing distances while on course.
• Numerous add-ons that volunteers need to see at pickup.
• Multiple or remote packet-pickup locations.

The broader retention opportunity is to identify a race director’s operational problem and use CheckIn to build a workflow that solves it.

Label Printing

Label printing is highlighted as an increasingly popular CheckIn feature. Labels can be customized for different sizes and information, including creating a large first-name label that can be placed on a bib. This provides a way to give late registrants a personalized bib without having to prepare every bib in advance.

The recommended printer in the webinar is the Brother QL-820NWB, in part because it supports Bluetooth, has a screen that makes Wi-Fi configuration easier, and has an external battery option. For iOS, native printing over Bluetooth with a one-device-to-one-printer setup is presented as the preferred workflow. Testing devices and printers before packet pickup is essential.

Collecting and Updating Participant Information

CheckIn can also function as a race-day data collection tool.

For example, if a race imported participants from another registration system and is missing information—or added a registration question after some people had already registered—the app can collect the missing responses at pickup. A configuration can be set so that looking up a participant takes the volunteer directly to Update Registrant Information.

The webinar recommends carefully testing this workflow and potentially separating it into two stations: one station fixes participant information and another handles normal bib pickup or assignment. This helps prevent information from being missed during check-in.

Managing Early Starts and On-Course Changes

An especially useful example is early-start management.

A race can create an “Early Start” corral and a specialized CheckIn configuration that allows staff to update a participant’s corral. Timing staff can then pull the updated information from RunSignup and apply the correct start information when scoring the participant. This avoids a situation where an early starter accidentally appears to have run significantly faster because the timing system does not know they started early.

The same concept can apply to races where participants are permitted to drop to a shorter distance while on course. At an aid station, a volunteer could record the change or update an internal question, making that information available to the timer. The webinar stresses that the rules and workflow need to be clearly defined and coordinated among everyone involved before using this approach.

Check-In Reporting: One of the Biggest Opportunities

One of the webinar’s strongest recommendations is to use Check-In Stats after every race.

Check-in reports show participant volume over time in five-minute intervals. Sustained plateaus can indicate that a packet-pickup location was operating at capacity and could benefit from additional staff next year. Quiet periods can identify better times for volunteer shift changes, while activity at the beginning or end of pickup can help determine whether future pickup hours should be adjusted.

No-show percentages can also help races make better estimates for items such as water and medals.

Available reporting includes checked-in participants, participants not checked in, bib assignments from check-ins, medical event data, and check-in summaries. A “participants not checked in” report can even become a marketing or communications tool—for example, reminding participants about race-morning pickup or reaching out after the race to people who never attended.

The key idea: packet pickup shouldn’t just happen—it should generate data that helps improve next year’s event.

Medical Mode

The app includes a Medical configuration that can check participants into and out of a medical tent. Relevant participant information can be displayed, and the resulting medical event data can be downloaded later. The webinar also emphasizes that organizers need to be mindful of applicable privacy requirements when deciding what medical information to collect and display.

Volunteer Management

RaceDay CheckIn also includes a separate Volunteer Mode.

Instead of organizing the workflow around race events, Volunteer Mode organizes it around volunteer tasks. Presets determine what information is displayed, while configurations determine which presets apply to particular volunteer tasks.

At the time of this webinar, there are some limitations: volunteer task time slots and category information are not displayed, volunteer waiver signing isn’t supported, and volunteer information cannot be edited beyond checking someone in.

Turn Check-In Devices Into Results Kiosks

After packet pickup ends, the same devices can be repurposed as results kiosks.

Results are pulled directly from the race’s RunSignup result set, eliminating the need to create a separate results-lookup system. A participant can look up their bib and immediately access their result. This extends the value of devices the timer or race has already deployed and creates another participant engagement point.

Offline and Poor-Connectivity Operations

The CheckIn App can continue working with poor or unavailable internet service. A yellow warning indicates a weak connection and a red warning indicates no connection. Check-ins can continue offline and synchronize once connectivity returns.

However, disconnected devices cannot prevent duplicate assignments in the same way as connected devices because they are not communicating live with the complete database. Organizers can configure the app to stop accepting additional check-ins after a specified number of queued edits, which is particularly useful for trail races and remote locations.

Get More Value From QR Codes

QR codes aren’t limited to dynamic bib assignment.

They can be used to quickly find participants using their RunSignup registration ID, assign bibs, and facilitate results lookup. The webinar recommends resending each participant’s registration QR code in the pre-race packet-pickup email so they have it readily available when they arrive.

A QR code printed on a bib can also serve multiple purposes: it can help with bib assignment or lookup inside CheckIn and can direct the participant to the appropriate results page after finishing.

Keep Registration Open

Another major recommendation is simple: if the race isn’t sold out, leave registration open.

New registrations can appear in CheckIn quickly—the webinar describes a roughly 30-second synchronization cycle—making it practical for participants to register shortly before packet pickup or race time.

Fast Registration can simplify race-day registration by allowing selected fields to be skipped and participants to register without creating an account. However, races should not skip information necessary for scoring, such as age or gender when those fields determine awards.

On-Site Registration offers a similar streamlined experience through an organizer-managed, password-protected station and can accommodate cash or check transactions while still putting participant information into the same database.

Operational Best Practices

Several practical recommendations can make CheckIn more successful:

• Create separate presets/configurations for lead staff and volunteers so exceptions are moved out of the normal packet-pickup line.
• Create different configurations for relays/teams versus individual participants.
• Use bib validation when assigning bibs onsite.
• Perform real check-ins before packet pickup begins, giving volunteers hands-on experience before crowds arrive.
• Monitor volunteers as they learn the workflow.
• Verify the race’s CheckIn period and password. The CheckIn period does not automatically reset when a race is renewed, and an incorrect period or missing password can prevent the race from appearing in the app.

Timers are also encouraged to complete the RaceDay CheckIn Timer Certification. Completing all four timer certifications can improve placement in timer searches while signaling to organizers that the timer has expertise with RunSignup’s RaceDay products.

Key Takeaways for Timers

The biggest lesson from Session 4 is that RaceDay CheckIn should not be viewed as a bib-assignment app. It is a flexible race-day operations tool that can help timers and race directors manage participant data, packet pickup, waivers, labels, early starts, event changes, volunteers, medical operations, results, late registrations, QR codes, and post-race reporting.

The webinar closes with the same core message: CheckIn can help virtually any race obtain better data and improve future operations, and there is significantly more that timers can do with the app than simply assign bibs.

Bottom Line

For race retention, the opportunity is straightforward: use CheckIn to solve more of the race director’s problems.

A timer who provides accurate results is valuable. A timer who also helps the race improve packet pickup, manage participant changes, collect better data, support volunteers, streamline registration, provide results access, and use reporting to improve next year’s event becomes a much more integrated partner.

That is the connection between the CheckIn App and the broader Keep Your Races strategy: expand the value you provide beyond timing alone.