For organisersGuide
Live tracking alongside your timing company
The short answer
Keep your timing company for what it does best: entries, chip timing, checkpoint splits and official results. Add livedot alongside it, free, so families and fans follow every runner who chose to be seen on a live map between the mats: runners go live from the free RunFast app or straight from their Garmin, and everyone follows on your race's page at livedot.me. The two don't compete: timing gives the results, livedot gives the dot.
Your timing company already does the hard, official part of race day: entries, chip timing, the splits at each mat, and the results. What families at home usually get is a time every few kilometres, and nothing in between. livedot fills the gap, for free: every runner who chooses to be seen is a live dot on your course, all the way round. This guide is for organisers who already work with a timing company, anywhere in the world.
What does each one do?
They do different jobs, and you want both.
| Your timing company | livedot | |
|---|---|---|
| Entries and race numbers | Yes | |
| Official times, splits and results | Yes, at the start, the finish and each mat | No: livedot isn't official timing |
| Where a runner is between the mats | Yes, live, all the way round | |
| Pace, finish time against their goal, the heat where they are | Yes | |
| Followers anywhere, in any browser | Yes, at livedot.me, with no app or account | |
| Taps on the back from home | Yes | |
| Cost to you | Your agreement with them | Free, thanks to ProLend |
How do I add livedot to a timed race?
Three steps, free, and nothing changes for your timing company.
- Put your race on livedot. Create it in the free RunFast app (or Windline for a cycling race) with the same course and start time, or tell livedot about it at livedot.me/organisers and a person sets it up with you.
- Tell your runners in the entry email. "Want your family to follow you live? Join our race in the free RunFast app." The app asks whether they want to be Findable by anyone.
- On race morning, they go live. From their phone, or by pressing Start on their Garmin near the course at the start time: on a race they've joined, the livedot Garmin app puts them on it with nothing to tap.
Then share one link, your race's page at livedot.me, next to your results link.
Where do I put the two links?
Side by side, so nobody has to choose.
- On your website and in your race-day post: "Results: [your timing company's link]. Follow the runners live: [your livedot.me race page]."
- In the pre-race email: the livedot link for families, and your timing company's results link for after the finish.
- At the start and finish: a QR code to each.
How to add live tracking to your race website.
What do families see that splits don't show?
A runner between the mats, live.
- Where they are now, on the course, not where they were at the last mat.
- Their pace and their finish time, against their own goal and any cut-off.
- The heat where they are, at their own pace.
- Taps on the back, sent from home, that the runner sees arrive.
Does it cost anything?
No. Adding livedot is free for organisers, runners and everyone following, thanks to ProLend, and it doesn't change anything you pay your timing company. If you'd like your race's live page in your own styling, with your sponsors and the live map on your own website, a bespoke page is $200 per event.
Questions
Do we have to change timing company?
No. Keep whoever times your race, such as Vantage Timing, ChipTimer or any other timing company, for entries, chip timing, checkpoint splits and official results. livedot runs alongside it, from the runners' own phones and Garmins, and doesn't touch your timing.
Does livedot connect to our timing system?
No. livedot doesn't read your timing mats or results. It shows where each runner is from their own phone or Garmin, between the mats as well as at them. Your official times stay with your timing company.
What does each one give our race?
Your timing company gives official times at the start, the finish and each mat, and your results. livedot gives a live dot for every runner who chose to be seen, all the way round, with their pace, their finish time against their goal and the heat where they are, for families following from anywhere.
Is livedot official timing?
No. Positions come from each runner's phone or Garmin. Use your timing company's results for placings, prizes and qualifying times.
What does it cost to add livedot?
Nothing. It's free for organisers, runners and everyone following, thanks to ProLend. The only paid option is a bespoke branded page in your own styling, with the live map on your own website: $200 per event, if you want one.
