Event Information

Timers are increasingly applying remote timing to provide services to more races on a given weekend and to reduce costs. This session will cover how RunSignup’s RaceDay tools can support your remote scoring of events.

• Discover how the Timer Dashboard gives you quick access to scoring data across multiple events
• Learn to monitor real-time finisher counts and registration data at a glance, even when you’re not physically on-site
• See how Cloud Backup status indicators help you confirm race readiness remotely before event day
• Explore how the RaceDay Mobile app enables you to provide basic timing or backup timing while using resources at the event site.
• Walk away with practical strategies for using these tools to expand your capacity and streamline remote timing workflows

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Summary of Webinar

Overview

Remote scoring means scoring a race without being physically present at the timing hardware. That might mean 50 feet away in a van, or 50 miles away at another event. The scoring itself doesn’t change regardless of distance — the challenge is replacing what you would normally see and hear on site with reliable communication and the right tools.

When Remote Scoring Makes Sense

• Your most experienced timer can’t be at a race due to scheduling conflicts
• A race needs a physical presence for hardware setup, but not a dedicated scorer
• A race is setting up their own hardware and needs remote scoring support
• A small or low-budget race can’t support a full on-site team, but benefits from proper scoring and live results
• You are training new staff and want to verify their work without standing over their shoulder

Key Tools

Timer Dashboard

The timer dashboard gives you a real-time health view of any race — participants in progress, raw reads, unknown reads, finisher counts, expected finish windows, and check-in stats. This is your primary remote monitoring tool. If unknowns are climbing, finishers aren’t appearing when they should be, or in-progress counts aren’t moving, the dashboard flags it before it becomes a bigger problem. It also works from your phone.

Cloud Backups

Back up your race the day before and again after it’s complete. If something goes wrong on site — a settings issue, a timing window problem — your remote staff can send a cloud backup, you fix the structure on your end, and push a setup-only import back to the on-site computer. The on-site machine keeps accepting reads throughout; when the corrected setup imports, everything processes correctly. A clean, low-disruption fix from anywhere.

Mobile Timing

Mobile timing is your verification layer when you can’t physically see the finish line. Key uses include:

• Running as a backup stream on its own dedicated location (not as a main stream) so you can write a data check to catch missed reads without risking false finish times from typos
• Confirming timestamps match chip reads — a large discrepancy signals a reader sync issue
• Capturing gunshot markers, especially for clock-time-only races
• Taking finish line setup photos so you can verify orientation, spacing, and presentation before the race starts
• Using the announcer mode as a value-add for the race that also keeps on-site staff engaged and productive

RaceJoy

RaceJoy gives you a live map view of GPS-tracked participants — a useful remote check on whether the course is being run correctly and an early indicator of off-course situations you wouldn’t catch from the scoring software alone. For races with splits, it also gives you a visual timeline of when and where participants are on course.

Remote Cameras and Desktop Tools

A finish line camera feed gives you actual eyes on the finish. Tools like AnyDesk, Chrome Remote Desktop, or Team Viewer let you take control of the on-site computer when needed — useful if staff are overwhelmed and a settings fix is required. Google Meet is a low-cost option just to see the screen without full control.

Communication Tools

Use a group chat app (WhatsApp, Google Chat, etc.) rather than SMS — you need read receipts and message history. Acknowledge every message from on-site staff, even with a thumbs up. If they don’t hear back, they don’t know if you saw it.

Best Practices

Have a script. Write out every step for on-site staff. What seems obvious to you after years of timing is not obvious to someone earlier in their career, especially under race day pressure. Give them both a digital and physical copy.

Have a plan B. Know how to get timing data in a file format if the live connection drops. Every timer should be comfortable with this regardless of remote scoring.

Over-plan your checks. Write and test data checks in advance. Set phone alarms for key checkpoints — gun start, first expected finisher, last finisher. Don’t rely on remembering these while solving other problems.

Staff are your representatives. Make sure on-site staff introduce themselves to organizers, thank volunteers, and say a proper goodbye. A race director who never sees you leave has a worse impression than one who gets a warm handoff. Think of on-site staff as servers in a restaurant — they are delivering your hospitality.

Thank your staff. It may be cold, rainy, or a long drive. They are making your remote scoring possible. Acknowledge it.

Sample Race Morning Timeline

Key Takeaways

• Scoring 5 feet or 50 miles away is technically the same — what changes is what you can physically see
• Replace what you would normally observe with the timer dashboard, mobile timing verification, photo uploads, and staff communication
• Use mobile timing as a backup stream on its own location with a data check — not as a main stream
• Cloud backups allow you to fix race structure remotely and push corrections back without interrupting reads
• Communication is the most important part of remote scoring — scripts, group chats, read receipts, and acknowledgments make or break the experience for staff and organizers alike