August 1, 2017
Birthdates
We've had problems with birthdates at a few races this year that can be avoided if we follow the correct procedures. This happens because Runscore is usually set to calculate the age from the birthdate field. This comes in very handy when you are typing entries on race day and runners put their birthdate instead of their age. It saves you from having to do the math. But sometimes the birthdates get messed up by software glitches and then you have a problem as all the ages are changed too. One problem is due to a difference in the way Apple and PC products handle dates in Excel. A file started on one platform and opened in the other will change the birthdates by four years and a day. There has also been an issue with Lightbox software where registrations manually entered by the race director without birthdates will create a default birthdate of 12/31/1969. When these birthdates are imported by Runscore and the database is updated, all the ages are changed to reflect the erroneous birthdate.
The simplest solution to this is to NOT import birthdates from the Excel file that the race director gives you. Or if you do import them, to bring them into a different field like NOTES. That way you'll have access to them if you need them for some reason. Marathons need birthdates because the BAA will need them when they ask for results from the race to check for Boston Marathon qualifiers. Sometimes you'll have a youngest or oldest runner award, and if you have two runners with the same age, you'll need the birthdate to tell who is the youngest/oldest. And finally, if someone sets an age group record of notable time, Ken Young of the Association of Road Race Statisticians will need the birthdate after the race. If you don't import them to a different field in the database, just change the column name in the Excel file to DOB and leave them in the file so you can look them up later. When you import the file to Runscore just tell it to ignore the DOB field.
Finally, when you do have a birthdate field in your Excel file, take a quick look at a few of them to see if they agree with the ages. If they appear to be four years off you've hit the Mac/PC problem. You should fix that in the file, even if you don't import it, because if you ever do need the birthdate for some reason, it will be wrong. Instructions on how to do this are in dropbox/instructions/Fixing the Excel date problem.doc.
Allow Ties
Have you ever had a situation where you want the results to display a tie between two runners? You can make their times be exactly the same to the hundredth of a second but Runscore will still treat them like one beat the other. To avoid this, put the command ALLOW TIES on a line after your Event lines and Runscore will give the same overall place to both runners, then skip the following place number. So, for example, you'll have two runners listed as being in place 1, followed by a runner in place 3.
Chip and bib number mismatches
From time to time the person who puts chips on the backs of the bib numbers will put the wrong chip on, so that there is a mismatch between the bib number on the front and the number of the chip. You will probably learn about this after results are posted, and if there are more than a few people with this problem it can create a real headache, as Kayleigh Bedsole found out at the South Berwick Strawberry Run in June. If there are just two people who have this mismatch together, you can use the @SWAP command to fix them. (If you don't know of this command, let me know because it is a crucial thing for all of our scorers to be able to do.) But if you have several, you can't use @SWAP and there is no simple solution. You will likely find out about these mismatches one at a time as each person finds that their results are incorrect and comes to tell you about it. Keep a detailed written account of all of these, including the runner name, bib number, and number on their chip. You may need to make a general announcement to the runners to check the chips on the backs of their bib numbers to see if they match. As you learn of each problem, call up their chip number in Runscore. You'll see that it belongs to a different person. Blank the number from that person's record since it isn't their number, and write their name down so you can seek them out to find out what chip they did have. Then call up the record for the correct person and change their number to the actual chip they wore. That will solve the problem for that one person. You just have to take them all one at a time. Also be aware that when you blank a runner's bib number their number in the Runscore TIME, START and any other event will also be blanked, leaving a time with no bib number next to it. But when you eventually go back and put the correct bib number down for that person, it will also re-enter it in all the events.
As you are doing this you may start to see a pattern emerge that will allow you to figure out how to fix all of them. In the example of the South Berwick race, the bibs were tagged incorrectly from 123 to 132. Bib 123 was tagged with chip 132 and then bib 124 thru 132 each had a tag that was one less than the bib number. So, bib 124 had chip 123 and so forth. At bib 133, they got back on track. Once we knew this pattern it was possible to correct all the problems. Bottom line is that this can be a tricky thing to fix, and not easy when you're under pressure at a race to get out results. Just try and stay focused, keep good notes, and take them one at a time. Let the race director know that the problem exists and you're working on it.
Dropbox Issues
We had an issue recently with all the dropbox files being mysteriously deleted. We never found out how it happened, as apparently it wasn't done on any staff computer. Perhaps it was a hacker of some type. The files are all backed up online so it was only a nuisance and not a disaster. But one thing this made me consider is what everyone should do when they get rid of a computer with our dropbox on it. You can't just delete all the files, since doing so will also delete them from everyone's dropbox. And you can't just give or sell the computer as-is to someone else, since that person will then have access to our dropbox. So if you do want to get rid of an old computer, let me know and I will remove that computer from our dropbox account. After that you'll be free to delete everything.
Photos at races
Taking photos of finishers at races is starting to become a standard service from many timers. Racewire is actively trying to get races from us by promising that they will provide free photos of all the finishers. When we post them on the GSRS Facebook page they are often very popular with the runners and race directors. It also leads to a LOT of Facebook likes of our GSRS page - we're very close to 2000 fans now. Tish and I have been taking such photos at most of our races for a few years now and it isn't all that hard to do. Assuming you have enough volunteers to handle the outside work, you can either have your GSRS outside person, or another volunteer, taking the photos. (Note, if you aren't getting enough volunteers please alert me so I can discuss it with the race director.) The hardest part is uploading the photos after the race to Facebook, but I'll be willing to take care of this. And if you're willing to start doing this and need a camera, let me know.
Short of taking photos of everyone, we also like to put photos of the male and female winners with the results on our website. So if at all possible take photos of the winners. Also helpful are photos of your equipment setups and of the race director. Send any such pictures to me after the race.
Racename Header
Instead of putting your own email address in the Racename headers in Runscore, consider putting this instead:
Results corrections: http://www.gsrs.com/fixresults
When they fill out that form on our website they'll be giving us all the info we need to make the correction, and you won't need to have your email address hanging out there forever.
Another thing to think about when editing the racename header. If there is a race sponsor mentioned, don't just assume that they have the same sponsor from year to year. Check the race website or ask the race director to make sure.
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