For race directors
Timing & the stopwatch
Two ways to get finish times: assign a professional timer company to your event, or time it yourself with the built-in stopwatch — a no-login, code-gated tool any volunteer can run from a phone.
Assigning a timer company
The Timer Company card lives on the Edit event page, in the More settings tray. It shows a directory of verified timing companies you can search by name and filter by state, with each company's service area and profile. You assign one timer per event, and can remove them anytime.
Once assigned, that company gets a scoped dashboard for your event:
- see your registrations
- assign bib numbers
- enter and manage race results
- check athletes in on race day
Payment and arrangements with the timer are normally handled directly between you, outside Run This. A timer can also propose a per-registrant fee through the platform — a flat amount, a percentage, or both. The request appears on the same card and nothing is charged until you Accept (or you can decline). An accepted fee is added on top of each new registrant's cost and paid out to the timer; the card keeps a history of every request and decision. See Timer companies — getting started and the Timer API for the timer's side of this.
The stopwatch: setting up
For self-timed races, open Stopwatch in your event's dashboard sidebar. Setup is three things:
Set a volunteer access code
A private code unlocks your event on the public stopwatch page. Generate one (or type your own), save, and share it with your crew. Regenerating the code revokes old access.Define your checkpoints
You start with a Finish line. Add aid stations or split points if you want course accountability — each volunteer picks the checkpoint they're standing at. Exactly one checkpoint is marked as the finish line; only its times feed race results.Copy the volunteer link
Volunteers open runthis.run/stopwatch on any phone — no account, no app install — and enter the code.
The stopwatch on race day
On the volunteer page: enter the code, pick your checkpoint, and press Start Race when the gun goes off. There is one shared race clock — every device at every checkpoint reads the same start, and every tap of Record is stamped on the server, so times stay consistent across phones. The crossing list refreshes automatically, so a two-person finish line sees each other's taps.
Capturing a time and naming the runner are separate on purpose: one volunteer just taps Record as runners cross, while a second person attaches bibs — typed on a keypad, picked from a grid of the event's assigned bibs, or added to a crossing later. A bib that doesn't match your roster is kept anyway and flagged "not in roster" so you can reconcile it afterwards. Stopping the clock (it asks twice) freezes the elapsed time and pauses recording; Resume picks it back up. You can also download the crossings as a CSV or email them.
Getting times into Race Results
Back on your Stopwatch dashboard page, a live feed shows crossings as they arrive. When the race is done, click Send finishes to Race Results: finish-line times are matched to registrations, each runner's gender and age group are pulled in, and placements are computed. Then publish them from the Race Results page — nothing is public until you do. Crossings without a bib or name are skipped and reported, so you can identify them and sync again.
Works in any phone browser