Set up a race from start to finish
The short path from "the admin gave me an event" to "the race is running". Every step links to a detailed guide if you need more than the quick version.
Tip
If your organisation has the AI assistant enabled, you can do most of this by describing what you want or pasting a roster — it proposes the changes and you approve them.
1. Open your event
Sign in at app.raceranger.com and pick your event from the events list. You land on the Races tab. You set up the event and its races on the web; the app is for managing the team and running the race.
2. Check the event basics
Click Edit event and confirm the name, location, and dates. Pick the location from the search results — it sets the event's time zone, and race start times are in local time. Attach any PDFs your officials will need — rules, briefing notes — with Upload document from the menu button at the bottom right of the event page. More in Event setup.
3. Add the race
Open the menu button at the bottom right and choose Add race. If your organisation has race templates, start from one — it pre-fills everything with a known-good setup. The wizard walks you through Basics → Distances → Start → Options → Numbers. Create race saves the race and keeps the editor open, now with a Course map tab.
4. Set the rules that matter
On the Options step, most races only need three decisions:
- Is drafting allowed?
- How are penalties served — in a run penalty box, a bike penalty box, or as stop & go?
- The Standard penalty (s) time — and, for a non-drafting race, the Drafting / blue card penalty (s) time.
Everything else has a sensible default — see Race configuration when you need one of the other options.
5. Upload the course map
A KML file with swim, bike, and run layers. There's an example file to start from. Upload it on the race's Course map tab. Details in Course maps.
6. Add athlete numbers
On the Numbers step, set the valid number range for the race (e.g. 1–99). Officials' typed numbers are checked against it. If your organisation imports start lists automatically, the athletes and their numbers come in for you — see Athlete management.
7. Invite and assign your officials
Open the event's Users tab. Add people from your organisation, invite new people by email, or share the event's QR code, and give each person an event role. If a race uses TO assignments, pick each technical official's roles for it with the people icon on the race. Full detail in Managing officials.
8. Run the race-day checklist
Race-day preparation is a tick-list of everything above plus final checks — including a test penalty in practice mode before the start.
9. Start the race
Use Activate race mode — the green play button on the race on the web, or under Danger zone in the race-mode tools in the app. You need permission to start and stop races. Race mode, location tracking, and notifications go live for every official on the race. If nobody starts it, RaceRanger activates race mode by itself an hour before the start time — unless another race in the event is still active.
If something is locked
Once a race records its first penalty or incident, its gender category, drafting, stop & go, and penalty-box settings lock to protect the results, and the race can't be deleted. Penalty times stay editable — the app asks you to confirm and records the change in the race log. If you need to change a locked setting, contact the RaceRanger team.