How the Stopwatch works

What you need

• A phone with a web browser, or the Run This Stopwatch app.
• The event code. Your race director shares it with the timing crew.
• Race directors: set up the code and your checkpoints first, on the Stopwatch page of your event's dashboard. See Timing & the stopwatch.

Open the Stopwatch

1. Go to the Stopwatch

   Open runthis.run/stopwatch in your phone's browser, or open the Run This Stopwatch app.

2. Enter the event code

   Type the code and tap GO. A code that doesn't match any race says so; check it with your race director.

3. Check your checkpoint

   The top of the screen shows where this phone is timing, like “Finish line”. To change it, open Settings and pick one under This stopwatch is for.

The phone stays signed in for the whole race, even if you close the page or the app and open it again.

Start the clock

When the gun goes off, press Start Race. Any phone timing the event can press it, and every phone shows the same clock within about a second.

Running waves, heats, or distances with their own start times? Each one gets its own Start, and every runner is timed from their own start. See Waves, heats and track meets.

Not timing every distance, like a kids fun run? Open Settings and turn it off under Distances to time. It won't get a Start on any phone, so a race with one timed distance gets the one big Start Race button. Virtual races start off. A distance someone already started stays on the screen, so it can still be ended or undone.

Record finishes

Tap Record a Finish the moment a runner crosses. The time is taken at your tap, on the phone itself, so a slow signal can't make a runner late. The finish shows on your list right away, marked Saving… until it reaches Run This. On a weak signal it keeps trying on its own, so keep timing.

There are two ways to say who crossed:

• Tap their bib as they cross. The grid button next to Record lists your race's bibs. Tap a runner's bib to record them, name and all, in one tap. Search by bib or name at the top. A bib that isn't on the list can still be recorded: type it and tap Record bib.
• Add the bib afterward. A finish with no bib shows tap to add bib. Tap it, type the bib, and the runner's name fills in from their registration.

At a busy finish, split the job: one person taps Record for every runner, and a second person adds bibs on another phone. Each sees the other's work within about a second. The count above the list shows how many finishes still need a bib.

Fix a mistake

Tap any finish to open it. You can change the bib, name, team, distance, notes, or the time (hours, minutes and seconds), then tap Save.

Ran a different distance than they signed up for? Pick the distance they ran under Sub-Event and save. The finish is timed from that distance's start, and their result goes with it. A finish from a distance you don't time says so, like Kids Fun Run isn't timed. Its time is never lost: pick the distance they ran, fix the bib, or delete it.

To remove a finish, tap Delete entry, then Yes, delete. It disappears from every phone. Recorded a runner twice? When results are sent, a bib recorded twice counts once, from its first finish, but deleting the extra keeps your list tidy.

Stop, resume and start over

• Stop freezes the clock on every phone and pauses recording. It asks twice, so a bumped button can't stop your race. Resume picks it back up.
• Restart / start over, in Settings, clears the clock and permanently deletes every recorded finish for the event. You have to type START OVER to confirm. Use it after a practice run, never on race day.

Settings

This stopwatch is for

The checkpoint this phone is timing: the finish line, or an aid station or split your race director added.

Distances to time

Which distances get a Start. Turn one off, like a kids fun run you aren't timing, and it's gone from every phone, along with its runners in the bib grid. At least one stays on. Your race director can change this on the dashboard too.

Keep screen awake

On by default. The screen stays on while anything is running, and sleeps normally before the first start and after you stop. Some browsers can't keep the screen on, and the setting says so. Then turn off your phone's auto-lock, or use the Run This Stopwatch app.

Dark mode (this device)

A dark screen, easier on the eyes early in the morning. Only this phone changes.

Newest finishes first

The finish you just recorded stays at the top of the list.

Export results (CSV)

Downloads a spreadsheet of every crossing and its time.

Email results (CSV)

Emails that same spreadsheet to the address you type.

Exit this stopwatch

Signs this phone out, for example to time a different race.

Weak signal, signing in and signing out

• Every time you record is kept. If the page reloads on a weak signal, it shows Reconnecting to the Stopwatch and tries again on its own.
• A phone that's in use stays signed in all race day, so nobody lands back on the code screen mid-race.
• If your race director changes the event code, every phone that used the old code is signed out within a couple of seconds and shows Your Stopwatch session ended. Enter the new code to keep timing. That's also how a race director locks out a lost phone.

After the race

Your race director sends the finishes to Race Results from the dashboard's Stopwatch page, checks them, and publishes them. See Timing & the stopwatch and Race results.