Professional race timing for everyone. All you need is a phone.

Sport and timing

Orienteering and SportIdent: how control-punching chips work

Orienteering has its own timing system, independent of RFID bib tags: SportIdent, where runners punch each control themselves using a chip. How did it originate, how do the contact and contactless versions work, and why is it so different from road race timing?

6 min read

Guide

Timing mats: how they work, how many you need and why they use multiple strips

A rubber mat containing antennas that an entire field can cross at once is the basis of professional timing at major running events. How does a timing mat work, why are several strips sometimes placed in succession, and what level of accuracy can you expect?

6 min read

Stories and curiosities

Why your GPS watch shows a different distance from the official course length

Did you run a marathon only for your watch to show 42.6 km instead of 42.195 km? That does not necessarily mean the course was measured incorrectly. We explain why official courses are measured along the shortest possible route using a bicycle fitted with a Jones counter—and why GPS measures something different.

6 min read

History

How running courses are measured: the Jones counter and certification, from calibrated bicycles to world records

Behind every certified marathon course is an ordinary bicycle fitted with a small revolution counter. This is the story of the Jones counter, invented by a father and son in the 1970s, and how it is now used to measure both Olympic and city race courses.

5 min read

Sport and timing

Rowing: why races are held over 2,000 metres and how a photo finish decided five thousandths of a second

The International Rowing Federation established 2,000 metres as the standard distance for its championship races in 1894—and it remains the standard distance for most elite flat-water rowing disciplines today. Here is how race timing works in rowing, why the sport needs a photo finish and the story of a race decided by just five thousandths of a second.

5 min read

Sport and timing

Speed skating: why automatic timing has been used since the last century

At high speed on the ice, the position of a skate blade decides the result. Here is how long-track speed skating is timed, why automatic timing is mandatory at the Winter Olympics and how a photo-finish system records the finish line rather than the skater.

5 min read

Sport and timing

Sailing: why the fastest boat across the finish line may not win under IRC and ORC

In sailing, the first boat across the finish line can ultimately finish last. We explain how the IRC and ORC handicap systems work, what corrected time means and how boats of different sizes and speeds can compete in the same race.

6 min read

Sport and timing

Ironman Hawaii: the history of the Kona World Championship and its time limits

From Oahu in 1978 to present-day Kona: the story of the world’s most famous triathlon. Here is how the 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike ride and marathon are timed, what the event’s time limits are and who holds the current course records.

5 min read