Timing & Results Committee: 2006 AGM Report

Timing & Results Committee: 2006 AGM Report

by Kevin Miller

I have been the the Chair of the Timing & Results Committee for the past 8 years. Committee members in 2006 were Michelle Barnet, Dave Desharnais, Cherrie Fournier, Susan Appleyard, Jacinthe Blais, Anita Miller, and Jaclyn Vallis. I communicated information to them a few times before and during the season, and also looked for feedback. Before the season started, I communicated a reminder about our Privacy Policy to them and each race director.

Miscellaneous comments

We used Race Wizard V5.10 in 2006. Version 5 was the first major upgrade of Race Wizard since 2001. There were only a few minor technical and compatibility issues to worry about. The most serious one occurred two days before the Triple Threat Triathlon when Race Wizard's Import Registrations module failed as I tried to import online registrations, but Peter Chernis had it fixed within half a day.
As in previous years, Anita verified all Kids of Steel race results when she built the KoS results website pages, and I verified the results from all other races when I built those results pages. That is why all Kids of Steel and Race Wizard results pages say "If you see any mistakes in these results, please contact Kevin Miller (or Anita Miller)."
As in previous years, I communicated with each event's registration/timing/results staff a couple weeks before race-day to discuss a test plan and procedures, and to ensure they had a up-to-date copy of our Triathlon Manitoba -- Online Registration, Triathlon Manitoba -- Race Wizard Timing & Results, and Triathlon Manitoba -- Timing With TimeTech Sprint 8 documents.
Anita maintained Race Wizard's rwdata_TriMB.mdb file, and I coordinated its movement from race to race.
The TimeTech Sprint 8 timing watches are now nine years old, and the Triathlon Manitoba notebook computer is over five years old. Our current system works well, but there are some reliability and maintenance issues with both the watches and the computer.

A more modern and technologically-advanced system would save us some race-day effort, but it would force us to expend major effort to rewrite and test procedures, rewrite and test the import of the EventsOnline.ca data file, etc, etc. A new system would also cost us thousands of dollars to purchase, or many hundreds of dollars per race to rent.

Our notebook computer has more than enough power to run Race Wizard, and it has never experienced a failure at a race. However, it often has problems at initial power-up, which patience or a few tricks can overcome, and it won't play music. It also runs the dreadful Windows ME operating system which Microsoft stopped supporting in July 2006. A new operating system would cost more than the computer is worth, and besides, the computer doesn't have enough memory for Windows XP. Most races use their own computer, so it's usually only Anita and I who use it. I do not think we should replace our notebook computer, either now or ever. When it dies, I suggest we tell all races that they must supply their own computer.

Each year, one or two watches break down or experience a reliability problem. Jaclyn and Anita keep track of this. TimeTech charges ~$150 for a watch repair, but shipping doubles the cost. We should probably now retire any watch that has a major breakage that we think will require an expensive repair. We'd only repair a watch if we think it will be an inexpensive repair, or if it's the type of problem (mechanical, not electronic) we might either be able to fix ourselves or get someone locally to fix for a reasonable cost.

Depending on how quickly we lose watches, we'd have to begin looking at replacement systems. I think four perfectly functioning Time Tech Sprint 8s is the absolute minimum we can function with, along with at least one other watch (either a Sprint 8 that didn't print or a Seiko) to serve as onsite backup. As soon as two Sprint 8s break down and are deemed too expensive to repair (or we couldn't crack the two open and combine them into one perfect watch), we've got to start making a move. In other words, when the current system really breaks, or the cost/benefit of a replacement system for races of 150 to 200 participants becomes better than the current system, we'll replace our current system.

Online registration

This was our 4th year of offering and supporting consistent online registration with EventsOnline.ca at all Grand Prix races. Dave and Michelle set up online registration and downloaded / imported the registrations for St Malo and LdB respectively. Martha Laverock set up online registration for Pinawa Free Spirit, but I did the download and import. I set up online registration and downloaded / imported the registrations for Triple Threat, Kenora Borealis, and Riding Mountain because Anita and I were hired (or volunteered) to do that.
For all races, I analyzed the contents of the EventsOnline.ca data file prior to the data download and import. I looked for all the inconsistencies I documented in my 2003 report to determine what I (or Michelle or Dave) would have to do to contents of the data file after downloading it, but before importing it into Race Wizard.

~80% of all registrants used online registration. Pinawa Free Spirit again required all participants to register online, Lac du Bonnet Triathlon encouraged online registration by setting their paper registration fees $10 higher, and Triple Threat paid each registrant's $3 online transaction fee. These races recognized the significant administration savings of online registration. Other races required the participant to pay the online transaction fee, so from an out-of-pocket cost perspective, they were discouraging online registration. Those races should also consider offering incentives to register online.

The legal requirement for online registrants to physically sign a paper copy of the Waiver and Release from Liability was finally overcome, so all of our online registration forms included a full waiver. As a result, race-day check-in went much quicker, and a tedious administrative task was removed for each race.

We implemented online registration for Kids of Steel. Unlike all our other races and almost all online registration forms that EventsOnline.ca had previously set up, we needed the ability for a registrant (parent) to be able to register multiple kids for multiple races at one time. Otherwise, parents would find data entry to be excessive, and they'd have to pay a $2 transaction fee for each kid at each $8 race. I conveyed those requirements and a possible design to John Litherland of EventsOnline.ca, and he and I worked together to produce a very successful KoS online registration form. The large number of online pre-registrants (65%) and paper pre-registrants (10%), along with improved check-in procedures, resulted in improved throughput at race-day check-in.

Registration/timing/results went well or very well at each race

Birds Hill Duathlon Series
- For the 2nd year, Dave Desharnais handled everything. Jaclyn and Summer Program Coordinator Aman Hussain were at most of the four races.
- There were a few minor problems with the results file that I received from Dave after race #3 (a few people contacted me the following morning), but Dave and I resolved them quickly.
The Girls' Tri
- Jaclyn handled things manually because this was a small event that was not part of the Grand Prix Series.
Triple Threat Triathlon
- Anita and I lead registration/timing/results because this was our club's race. Jacinthe Blais of Duathlon Ste Anne was there to learn more about Race Wizard, and to assist us. Aman was the TriMB staff person.
- The only issue was a communication misunderstanding that resulted in all Sprint Triathlon swim and finish times being 1 minute too slow. A few people pointed that out to me an hour after the results were posted on our website, and I had them fixed by 6:00 PM. Nobody noticed the 1 minute when the winning times were read during post-race awards. Perhaps if the paper results had been posted like at all other races except St Malo, the mistake would have been identified.
St Malo Multisport
- For the third year in a row, this was also a Triathlon Canada Junior/U23 Development Series race. Jaclyn handled the staff role, and Dave Desharnais was again hired to lead their timing & results.
- The problems from last year with the Triathlon Canada Junior/U23 Development Series race were corrected with a lot more pre-race planning. However, the results for the regular Olympic and Sprint races were so late that the Awards Ceremony was delayed, and the Sprint results never were announced at the race. Apparently, Dave and Sarah Desharnais got so far behind building the Start Order with race-day registrants that they never fully caught up until hours after the race. Also, when I received the results file, I could see that the Olympic swim times didn't look right. I contacted a number of the participants and asked them to read their watches to me; I soon deduced that the swim times and finish times were two minutes too fast, so I corrected the results before posting them.
Triathlon In The Park
- This was not a Grand Prix Series event. The race organizers contracted RaceResults.ca (Steve Gajerski). The race only had 33 participants. Jaclyn was staff support at the race.
Pinawa Free Spirit
- I worked very closely with Susan Appleyard of Pinawa leading up to race-day and also during the race, just as I had for two large cross country ski races in Pinawa last winter. This worked very well because Susan has excellent technical skills, and she's learned Race Wizard very well, but she had no experience with Tri MB procedures. Anita and I provided Triathlon Manitoba staff support.
Morden Triathlon
- This event had a new race organizer, and it wasn't a Grand Prix Series event, so the race director chose to use Running Room for online registration and RaceResults.ca (Steve Gajerski) for registration/timing/results.
- As expected, the fact they were not using Race Wizard's Racers Register database did indeed result in a bit more work for me when I received the TXT results file from Steve. A handful of participants were miscategorized, and the Foilman "Swim+Bike" times were wrong. The DNFs had been removed from the results, which resulted in a couple of queries. However, in general, things went well.
Lac du Bonnet
- Jaclyn handled the staff role, and Michelle Barnet led registration/timing/results because the LdB Tri is her race. Everything went very well.
Kenora Borealis MultiSport
- Anita and I were again hired to lead registration/timing/results. Anita and I also shared the staff role. Everything went very well.
Riding Mountain
- Jaclyn handled the staff role, and for the 6th year in a row, the race director hired Anita and I to lead registration/timing/results. Everything went very well.
Duathlon Ste Anne
- This was was not a Grand Prix event, but for the second year in a row Jaclyn handled the staff role and assisted Jacinthe Blais with registration/timing/results using Race Wizard. Everything went very well.
Results at all eight Kids of Steel races were again done with paper and pencil (no splits), and typed by Anita into an HTML (website page) template. Jaclyn led registration/timing/results at St Malo, Pinawa, Stonewall, and Curran Park, while Aman led it at Morden, and Anita led it at Triple Threat, Riding Mountain, and Wind-up. Everything went very well.
All Northern Manitoba races were completely handled by the Race Director; registration/timing/results was done done with paper and pencil, then typed into a file and one was e-mailed to Anita for posting on our website.
As in the past, every race had a technical support person. Basically, all of the people mentioned above, except Jaclyn and Anita, can fulfill that role.

Great work by all the people mentioned in this report, and the many timing volunteers at all the races, resulted in a very good year for registration, timing, and results.

Please also refer to my Timing & Results Committee annual reports from the previous seven years: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.

This page was last updated on September 27, 2006