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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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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