Frequently Asked Questions

RaceApp.net is all-in-one timing and meet management software built by coaches for schools on any budget. It handles everything from athlete management and race timing to automatic scoring and result sharing - all from your smartphone or tablet.

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We recommend you read through the help articles and play with the system to get acquainted before a meet. The high level steps are:

1. Sign up for a free account at raceapp.net
2. Add your athletes to your team roster (manually or import from MileSplit/Athletic.net)
3. Create your meet and add events
4. Assign bib numbers to competitors
5. Print QR code name tags for easy scanning, or print rosters with bib numbers for use with wristbands
6. Time races using any of our timing methods (FAT Timer, Video Assisted Timer, Hand Timer, or import from video)
7. Enter results using QR code scanning, AI handwriting scan, or manual bib number input
8. Auto-score the meet with one click
9. Export results to Athletic.net

No credit card is required for the free plan, and you can be up and running in under 5 minutes.

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No app is required for most features. RaceApp.net works entirely in your web browser on any device - phone, tablet, or computer.

The only exception is the FAT Timer feature for Fully Automatic Timing, which requires the free FAT Timer iPad app from the App Store. Athletes and spectators never need to download anything - they can view results instantly on any device.

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Yes! RaceApp supports importing athlete rosters from: - MileSplit - Import your team roster directly - Athletic.net - Import your team roster directly - CSV files - Bulk import from spreadsheets - Manual entry - Add athletes one at a time

Any athletes entered during meets are automatically saved and will auto-populate in future meets.

See our detailed guide: Adding Athletes

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You can invite temporary admins to help with data entry without creating accounts:

1. Go to your meet and click “Share Admin Access”
2. Generate a QR code or shareable link
3. Have volunteers scan the QR code or click the link

Volunteers get limited access to enter data for that one meet only. They can’t delete results or access other meets. Access expires after a configurable time period. No accounts or passwords to manage!

See our detailed guide: Sharing Admin Access

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Hire a pro when:

• You don’t have the time or volunteers. Hosting a meet is a lot of work, and a professional timing crew is a real time-saver if the budget allows.
• Records may be set. Championship meets, large invitationals, and section/state qualifiers call for certified FAT systems built for precision down to the thousandth of a second. Those are tens-of-thousands-of-dollars setups, and as good as iPad cameras have gotten, you can’t match that level of precision with off-the-shelf consumer gear for a few hundred bucks.

For regular-season dual meets, league meets, middle school meets, and most XC races, RaceApp’s FAT Timer is plenty accurate — and saves you $600–$1,000 per meet.

For the longer breakdown, see our blog post: Do I Need a Timing Company for My Track Meet?

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1. Log in to your RaceApp account
2. Go to your team dashboard
3. Click “Create Meet”
4. Enter the meet name, date, and select the scoring type (Track, Cross Country, or Swimming)
5. Configure team scoring options (points per place)
6. Save and add events

See our detailed guide: Creating A Meet

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RaceApp supports: - Track & Field - Running events, relays, horizontal events (long jump, shot put, discus), and vertical events (high jump, pole vault) - Cross Country - With proper XC scoring (minimum score wins) - Swimming - Timed swimming events with lanes

Each sport has appropriate scoring and result formats built in.

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RaceApp offers multiple timing methods:

1. FAT Timer App - Fully Automatic Timing with 240fps iPad video
2. Video Assisted Timer (VAT) - Built-in timer that captures photos at each finish
3. Built-in Hand Timer - Simple stopwatch that assigns times to scanned athletes
4. AI Handwriting Scan - Scan handwritten times from paper
5. Manual Entry - Type times directly
6. Video Analysis - Import existing video for frame-by-frame timing
7. CSV Import - Import times from other systems

Choose the method that best fits your meet size and volunteer skill level.

See our detailed guide: Race Timing

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For horizontal events (long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus): 1. Add a horizontal event to your meet 2. Enter each athlete’s attempts 3. Best mark is automatically calculated 4. Places are assigned based on best marks

For vertical events (high jump, pole vault): 1. Add a vertical event to your meet 2. Enter heights and attempts (O/X/P) 3. Winners determined by height and attempts

See: Recording Horizontal Events and Recording Vertical Events

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After all results are entered: 1. Go to your meet dashboard 2. Click “Auto Score” 3. RaceApp calculates places and team points based on your scoring configuration

For Track meets, the team with the most points wins. For Cross Country, the team with the lowest score wins (standard XC scoring rules apply). You can configure points per place (e.g., 10-8-6-4-2-1) in your meet settings.

See our detailed guide: Auto Score A Meet

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Results are shared automatically as they’re entered. To share:

1. Print QR Code Posters - Large QR codes spectators can scan to view live results
2. Share the Results Link - Copy the public results URL from your meet
3. No App Required - Anyone can view results on any device with a web browser

Results update in real-time as you enter them. Families love being able to see their athletes’ times immediately!

See our detailed guide: Print Meet Posters

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1. Go to your meet dashboard
2. Click “Export”
3. Select “Athletic.net Format”
4. Download the CSV file
5. Upload to Athletic.net

The export includes all athletes, times, places, and team information in the format Athletic.net expects. One click exports the entire meet!

See our detailed guide: Export to Athletic.net

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Yes! When creating a meet, you can invite other teams to participate. Each team manages their own athletes, but you will import them before the meet and assign numbers to each athlete. Only one team runs the meet from their account.

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Yes! RaceApp gives you full control over bib numbering. You can set a starting number for the entire meet, set different starting numbers for each team, or click any individual bib number to change it. The default auto-assignment works great for most meets, but custom numbering is there when you need it.

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The Event Planner lets you plan athlete event assignments for meets you’re attending – the away meets, league meets, and invitationals that make up most of your season.

Pull up your roster on your phone at practice, tap to assign events as you talk to each athlete, and track who’s going, who needs a ride, and who’s out. When you’re done, print assignments or share a live link.

No more paper grids.

The planner is free on all plans, including the free tier. No roster limits, no limits on meets planned.

Learn more about the Meet Planner →

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Absolutely. If your athletes already have numbered bibs (from a league, a vendor, or reusable race numbers), just set each team’s starting number to match their bib range, or click individual bib numbers on the Assign Numbers page to match what’s printed. RaceApp’s timing, results entry, and scoring all work with whatever numbers you assign — they don’t have to follow our default scheme.

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Share a link or invite code with families. They sign in with Apple or Google – no account to create, completely free.

Once signed in, a parent or guardian claims their athlete and can:

• Set availability for each meet (going, not going, needs ride)
• Set availability for the whole season at once – so you get a baseline head count without chasing families meet by meet
• Request events they’d like their athlete to do
• View the team schedule

Event requests are just requests – you still make the final assignments. Family participation is optional and works best for middle school programs where parents are more involved. For high school, you’ll probably work directly with your athletes.

Family participation is always free, no matter what plan you’re on.

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RaceApp gives you three ways to print bib numbers, and you can mix and match them for the same meet:

1. Team rosters — A printed list of athletes and their numbers, one page per team. Combine with Tyvek wristbands that athletes write their number on with a Sharpie. Cheap (~$0.02/wristband), durable, and weather-proof. Recommended for most track meets.
2. QR-code labels — Avery 8160 and other label sizes with bib number, name, and a scannable QR code. Stick them on wristbands or jerseys. Great for accuracy — scan the QR at the finish line and the result auto-fills.
3. Half-sheet race bibs — Two traditional pinned-on bibs per 8.5x11 sheet, with a giant number, meet name/date, athlete name. A QR-code version is also available for scanning. Great for cross country or any meet where you want classic pinned-on bibs.

All three are available from the Print dropdown on the Assign Numbers page.

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No. Unfortunately both MileSplit and Athletic.net are closed systems and do not offer ways for us to push data to them.

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FAT Timer transforms your iPad into a Fully Automatic Timing system. Record video of the finish line, mark athlete times frame-by-frame, and export results directly to RaceApp.net for your track, cross country, or swimming meets. It’s the same technology used by professional timing companies, at a fraction of the cost.

Learn more: FAT Timer Guide

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Yes! The FAT Timer app is free on the App Store. Recording video and marking finish times is completely free. To export your times to RaceApp.net, you’ll need a FAT Export subscription ($99/season) which can be purchased through your team account or as an individual add-on.

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FAT Timer works on any iPad that supports slow-motion video recording. We recommend the latest base model iPad - the Pro is not needed. The app requires iOS 17 or later.

To check if your iPad supports slow-motion video, see the List of iPad models on Wikipedia and look for 240fps or 120fps in the camera specifications. For best timing accuracy, 240fps is preferred.

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FAT Timer supports recording at up to 240fps on newer iPads, giving you approximately 4ms precision when marking finish times. We recommend using 240fps slow-motion mode for the best accuracy. Mount your iPad on a tripod with a clear view of the finish line for optimal results.

For true Fully Automatic Timing, you’ll need a wireless microphone to capture the starter’s signal and precisely across heats. We’re currently offering a free wireless mic with FAT Export subscriptions ($99/season). Without sound-triggered starts, results are technically considered hand-timed because a single human is triggering the start - though still far more accurate than multiple volunteers with stopwatches.

See our detailed guide: FAT Timer Guide

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After marking finish times in the video: 1. Sign in to your RaceApp.net account (if not already signed in) 2. Select the race you want to send results to 3. Tap “Export to RaceApp”

Exports are limited to 3 per race unless you have an active FAT Export subscription. Times are uploaded directly to your race and appended to any existing results that already have times.

COMING SOON
If you assign lanes to each time in the FAT Timer, athletes will automatically be matched to their times by lane number when exported. This works best when athletes are pre-assigned to lanes in RaceApp (via Quick Entry or RunMeet sync).

See our detailed guide: FAT Timer Guide

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Videos are stored locally on your iPad and are never uploaded to our servers. Only the timing data (finish times) is sent when you export to RaceApp.net. You have complete control over your video files.

To access your recordings: - In FAT Timer: Open the History tab to view past races - In Files app: Browse → On My iPad → FAT Timer → Races

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Essential equipment: - iPad - Any model with slow-motion video. We recommend the latest base model iPad; the Pro is not needed. Check the iPad models list on Wikipedia for 240fps/120fps support. - Tripod with iPad mount - For stable finish line recording - FAT Timer app - Free on the App Store

For true FAT timing (sound-triggered starts): - Wireless microphone - Captures the starter’s gun for precise sync across heats - We’re currently offering a free wireless mic with FAT Export subscriptions ($99/season)

See our FAT Hardware Guide for detailed recommendations.

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All billing is per-season (6 months) regardless of when purchased.

Seasons are one-time purchases and not auto-renewed. We’re probably leaving money on the table doing it this way, but we feel it’s more honest.

• Track season: January - June
• Cross Country season: July - December

No credit card required for the free plan.

See our pricing table for more info.

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Yes! Our League Pass offers group pricing at $75/team/season (minimum 4 teams). That’s a $24 savings per team compared to individual Team plan pricing. A single coordinator can manage all teams. Contact [email protected] to set up League Pass.

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FAT Timer is an add-on ($99/season) available with Team plan or higher.

Meet planning (event assignments, attendance tracking, family participation) is free on all plans with no limits.

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Log in to your RaceApp account and go to your Team settings. Click “Upgrade Plan” to see available options. You’ll only pay the difference between your current plan and the new plan for the remainder of your season.

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Contact us at [email protected] if you’re not satisfied. We’ll work with you to resolve any issues or provide a refund if needed. We want you to be happy with RaceApp!

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No. The Event Planner is completely free.

You can plan unlimited meets, assign unlimited athletes, and use family participation – all for free.

Paid plans are for hosting meets with timing, scoring, and results features. Planning is a separate workflow and has no paywall.

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RaceApp.net works on any device with a modern web browser: - iPhones and Android phones - iPads and Android tablets - Laptops and desktop computers - Chromebooks

The FAT Timer feature requires an iPad or iPhone with iOS 17 or later.

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Yes. RaceApp uses industry-standard encryption (HTTPS/TLS) for all data transmission. Your data is stored securely and backed up regularly. We never sell your data to third parties.

FAT Timer videos are stored locally on your iPad and are never uploaded to our servers. Only timing data is transmitted when you export results.

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1. Go to raceapp.net and click “Log In”
2. Click “Forgot Password?”
3. Enter your email address
4. Check your email for a reset link
5. Click the link and create a new password

If you don’t receive the email, check your spam folder or contact [email protected].

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Yes. Contact [email protected] with your account email and we’ll delete your account and all associated data. This action is permanent and cannot be undone.

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Email us at [email protected] - we typically respond within 24 hours. You can also check our Help Documentation for answers to common questions.

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RaceApp requires an internet connection to work correctly. If your meet location doesn’t have wifi or decent cell service, the web app won’t function properly.

The FAT Timer iPad app is a different story — it can still record and time races without internet since all video files stay on your device. However, without a connection it won’t be able to export results to RaceApp, and you won’t be able to select which race you’re recording from the pick-list.

That said, RaceApp is not bandwidth-intensive. There’s no video streaming or large file transfers — it only sends small amounts of text data at a time. A basic cell signal is usually enough to run a full meet.

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