RaceBase


Chapter 2: Operational Overview

Sources of Information

RaceBase is the scoring component of a number of software programs which together comprise PocketTimer Pro. There are three essential components for race scoring: a list of categories (age groups, teams, etc.) to be scored, a list of racers which includes not only name and other personal information but also the key race information - bib#, sex, age, and category, and finally a list of times and bib#'s representing the results of the race.

Categories

The list of categories is contained within RaceBase itself, although, as we'll see in the next chapter, the actual list is created in the standard Palm MemoPad application.

Racers

For the list of racers, RaceBase uses the standard Palm Address Book application. Fortunately, in addition to the "usual" information (name, address, phone number, email, etc.), Palm provided four "custom" fields in the Address Book which can be used for any purpose. RaceBase uses those custom fields to hold the specialized racer information - bib#, category, sex and age (which to save space are combined into a single field, e.g., "M44"), and individual time handicap (if any).

Times

The times for RaceBase to analyze are recorded by our other application, PocketTimer. In most cases you'll be able to record most (often 95%) of the time/bib# pairs correctly as the racers finish, but of course you'll want 100% accuracy in the times before you do the scoring. To get this, you need to review the list of captured time/bib# pairs vs. the tags torn off from the bib#'s at the finish (usually collected on long strings), and edit the recorded information (correcting erroneously recorded numbers, inserting missed numbers, or even deleting numbers which don't correspond to any tag). Once this is done, you can proceed with the scoring.

Sequence of Operations

  1. Create your list of categories (age groups, etc.). As will be discussed in the next chapter, you do this in the Memo Pad application and then transfer the list to RaceBase. This step can be accomplished well in advance of race day.
  2. Enter racer information into the Pilot Desktop Address Book application. Preregistered racers should be entered before race day, and then "HotSync'ed" into the handheld PalmPilot or Palm III.
  3. Run RaceBase, and import the names of the pre-registered racers from the Address Book. RaceBase will tell you if it finds "uncategorized" racers, that is, racers for whom the category does not match any entry in your list of permissable categories. Make corrections as appropriate, either on the desktop or directly on the handheld unit. The more of these problems you can eliminate before race day, the better off you'll be.
  4. On race day you have two choices. If there will be a great many race day registrants, then you'll want a desktop or laptop computer on hand to enter them, followed by another HotSync to install those racers in the handheld unit. If there are limited numbers of race day registrants, and personnel are on hand who are familiar with data entry into the PalmPilot, then you can enter the data directly into the handheld unit and eliminate the HotSync step. Our measurements show that desktop or laptop data entry can be done at approximately three entrants per minute (entering only essential information - name, bib#, age, sex, category - and not unessential information like address, phone, etc.), while entry on the handheld unit can be done at 1-2 entrants per minute (obviously dependent on familiarity with PalmPilot data entry). If you're really pressed for time or have a larger than expected raceday entry, you can make this process go even faster by skipping the names and entering only the bib# and category, which is all the information that is really necessary for scoring the race. [Note - in September, 1998, keyboards for the PalmPilot will be available, which would obviously increase the rate of data entry onto the handheld unit]
  5. Start the timer in PocketTimer when the race starts.
  6. If the race is sufficiently long, and raceday entrants sufficiently numerous, entry of registrants, either onto the desktop or directly onto the handheld, can continue after the timing has started. If the last entry is entered into the database on the desktop at least 10 minutes before the first finisher is expected, you can safely HotSync the new names into the handheld unit and still have the unit ready to record the first finishers. Note that performing a HotSync will not affect the times recorded by PocketTimer, which will be already running at this time.
  7. Record the times and bib#'s during the race with PocketTimer. Here there are at least three options:
    1. Record ALL times, that is, wait until the last racer is finished before stopping
    2. Record most of the finishers (say, 95% of them), and leave the back of the pack to be handtimed by someone with a stopwatch and clipboard while the bulk of the results are analyzed
    3. Record some fraction (say, 60%) of the finishers with one PalmPilot, then substitute a second PalmPilot to record the remaining finishers (later to be merged with the first set), so you can start analysis on the first bunch while the race continues.
  8. Review the stored time/bib# pairs against the tear-off tags captured after the finish line. Edit the information stored in PocketTimer so that it is 100% accurate.
  9. If race day data entry wasn't complete before the race timing started, HotSync the PalmPilot once again so that the final entries are downloaded into the handheld unit.
  10. Run RaceBase, and re-import the final list of racer information from the Address Book. You can expect this step to take about a minute for 1000 racers (and proportionately less for fewer racers, of course).
  11. Import the times from PocketTimer into RaceBase. As RaceBase reads the time/bib# pairs, it matches them up against the database of racers. When all the times have been read, RaceBase will automatically score the race, that is, sort the racers by overall finish, age group placing, team scoring (for cross-country races), etc. Expect this entire step (reading the times and scoring the race) to again take about a minute for 1000 racers (and again, proportionately less for fewer racers).
  12. Results can now be read directly off the screen of the PalmPilot, or printed to a printer. Printing results will take anwhere from 20 to 60 seconds per full page, depending on the method of connection (serial or IR) and the type of printer used.

Some racers are less "dense" than others; ultrarunning events, for example, may only see one finisher every few minutes. For races like this, steps 8-10 above will probably not be relevant, and you'll find that it is entirely possible while still timing the race to switch from PocketTimer to RaceBase, perform steps 11 and even 12 above (analyzing and printing out results), and then return to PocketTimer (step 7) in order to record the next finisher. Step 11 (analysis and scoring) will be virtually instantaneous in cases like this, so you only need to be familiar with the speed of your printer in order to judge how much time you'll need between racers in order to print out results.

Want Results Even Faster?

If you want the fastest possible results (placings for awards), without worrying about the accuracy of recorded times, you can situate an additional PalmPilot unit not at the finish line itself, but at the end of the finish chute where the tags are collected. A person at this point can record 100% of the bib tags while the race is proceeding, with times that are approximately (but obviously not exactly) correct. At some point in the race, this unit can stop (either temporarily or permanently) performing this task, and be used (starting at step 9 above) to quickly score and print out results for the race, while the race is still proceeding and being timed "officially" by the unit at the finish line. This is also a great way to uncover problems with the results before the official awards ceremony, because you can often spot racers who are way out of line with others in their category who will turn out to be people listed in the database as female who are really male, incorrect ages, etc.

Testing Before RaceDay

Note that you can do a practice run quite easily. Let's say the assigned Bib #'s for pre-registered runners range from 1 to 125. Go through all the steps, start PocketTimer, let it run for a bit, and then randomly select numbers from 1-125 and tap the Record button. Now proceed with the race scoring, printout, etc., to make sure you understand how it all fits together.

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