RaceGorilla is a powerful sport timing platform with many different possibilities. Setting-up a competition with all these facets can be daunting. At the same time, here are five simple steps to get started.

1. Create a competition via the dashboard
2. Set categories
3. Add participants
4. Add your timing team
5. Start timing

1. Create a competition

Competitions are created via the dashboard. They become instantaneously available in the iOS and Android app as well. Create a competition and choose a sport and a specific format. When your sport isn’t listed choose ‘general’. The formats create either a competition in mass start or time trial start mode which result in different views in the timing app.

2. Set Events

An event is a grouping of participants where the final result list will be based on, for example and age group, distance or gender (or a combination of those). After creating a competition, open it and go to ‘Events’ in the left sidebar menu. Then click the ‘Add Event’ button in the top right of the screen. An event has a ‘name’ and a ‘short name’. At least one category must exist in a competition.

3. Add participants

Add participant via a form directly in the dashboard or upload using the file uploader. The following columns need to be at least present to upload a participant table: Start Number, First Name, Last Name, Event. Also the Event needs to match the exact name of the event as set in step 2.
More on uploading participants can be found in the add participants tutorial.

4. Add your timing team

When the competition is set-up and participants are added it’s time to invite members to the timing team. At least two people are needed; one at the start and one at the finish. Go to ‘Team’ in the sidebar menu and add users to your competition through their email address. If they don’t have an account yet you will be prompted to send them an email notification.
Detailed user role settings can be found under advanced permissions to increase the control over your team.
Note: It is very important to train your timing (or judging) assistants. Create a separate demo competition or a test category is your live competition. There are several assistant tutorials available for each user role.

5. Start timing

Grab your phone and start timing!
Download the RaceGorilla Pro app for IOS or Android. Use the same username and password as you used for entering the dashboard.
To have an optimal live timing experience, use at least two mobile phones to time start and finish simultaneously. Open the live results viewer at you computer to see the magic happening.