Monster Timing

Race-Watch: live timing checks for every race we time

Every chip read checked as it happens, so mistakes are fixed before results go out. Developed in-house, and only available when Monster Timing times your race.

Chip timing is very reliable, but on a busy race day some things still slip through: a lap mat that misses a read, an athlete who starts with the wrong wave, a chip handed out without being assigned to anyone. Normally these show up afterwards, as complaints and corrected results.

Race-Watch is our own live monitoring system, developed in-house by the Monster Timing team from what we've seen go wrong at real races. It runs alongside RACE RESULT for the whole race and checks every read against the course as it comes in. When something doesn't add up, our timing team is alerted straight away, while there's still time to fix it.

What it watches

The timing equipment

  • Mats and decoders that stop reading, and a lost connection from the timing laptop.
  • Hardware problems trigger an immediate alert, so they're fixed in minutes, not found at the finish.

Every athlete's race

  • Missed lap reads versus laps actually skipped. Race-Watch can usually tell the two apart from the athlete's own pace.
  • Runs that are impossibly fast, and athletes who stop being read on course.
  • Athletes who start with the wrong wave, which would leave their time out by a full wave gap.
  • Athletes who enter a station over the wrong mat.
  • Chips racing that aren't assigned to a registered athlete, so nobody finishes without a result.
  • Chips that leave the venue instead of being handed back at the finish.

How it helps your event

  • Correct results, faster. Problems are found and fixed in RACE RESULT during the race, not days later.
  • Your results stay in RACE RESULT. Race-Watch never changes a time. It flags problems; our team checks each one and makes any correction in RACE RESULT, the same system your results have always come from.
  • Fewer disputes. Every alert and every fix is logged, so a result query gets a clear answer.
  • Hardware issues caught early. A failed mat is spotted in minutes, not when the results look wrong.
  • A full report afterwards. Each event ends with a summary of what was flagged and what was done about it.

Race-Watch in action: one HYROX race

At a recent HYROX event in Lisburn, Race-Watch checked every one of 28,414 chip reads for 358 athletes, live, as the race happened.

  • 129 runs flagged as short. The athlete crossed fewer lap mats than the course requires, with lap times that show a lap was skipped rather than a read being missed. Each one was reviewed before results were final.
  • 28 athletes were short on two or more runs. Race-Watch picks out that pattern, so the referee team knows where to look.
  • No missed reads from the timing mats. Race-Watch told every short run apart from equipment error, and no mat or decoder went silent all day.
  • Only 2 alerts out of 229 needed a closer look. The rest were settled automatically from timing data alone.
  • 343 of 358 chips came back at the finish. The other 15 were flagged by bib and chip number: 12 were never read at the return point, and 3 went past the return reader but were read on course again afterwards.

Built for HYROX and multisport

Race-Watch handles HYROX events (laps, stations, waves, doubles and relays) as well as triathlons and other checkpoint races. Each event is set up automatically from its RACE RESULT configuration, so it's ready from the first wave.

Race-Watch is included when Monster Timing times your event.Get in touch to talk about your race.