There are many times when you are timing a race that has multiple start times. While the most common Wave Start scenario is for different start times based on what division the participant is entered in, it is not always the case. The Race Director allows users to define multiple start times in a few different ways.


The Race Director is based on the concept that there is a single gun time, with all other start times being a time offset from this gun time. You are given the option to set multiple wave starts based on Age Group, Participant, or by Division.


These options are found in Tailor > Options > Finish Line:


 


This feature allows you to set multiple start times in any way possible. When you are setting up a Wave Start, note that any offsets that you put it will be subtracted from the participant’s finish times that this Wave Start applies to.


For instance if I have a Gun Time of 09:00:00.00, a Wave Time of 0:30:00.00, and a finish time of day of 12:00:00.00, my finish time would be 2:30:00.00. Without this Wave Time applied, my finish time would be 3:00:00.00. This would be for a case where my Wave Start was 30 minutes later than the initial gun time of the day.


Depending on what type of Wave Start that you select in Tailor > Options > Finish Line, you will notice that some areas of The Race Director will change, or allow you to enter in Wave times that had not before.

Age Group

You can define Wave Offsets by Age Group in two places, both found in Tailor > Divisions > Update Age Groups.


 


Either you can add them in by clicking the Age Group that you would like to add a Wave Start Time to, clicking Edit, then entering into the Wave Offset the time that this age group should have and clicking Save before exiting this dialog.



Additionally you can assign multiple age groups to a single Wave Group if you wish here.


Participant

If you chose to set Wave Starts by Participant a button on the Update > Participants  toolbar becomes clickable called “Wave”. It is here that you can now define Wave Offsets by individual participants. This is very useful for Time Trial starts, and for complicated wave start scenarios that are not covered by the other options available.


 


When you click the Wave button, you are brought to a dialog that allows you to search for a participant by bib number and type in an offset for them. You can also define a Wave Group in this menu.


 


Import

A useful feature on this dialog is the Import button, which allows you to import a list of bib numbers and their associated start times from an RD File, Time Machine, or a simple two-column CSV spreadsheet.


 


Wave Offset Rule

If wave offset times are set by some sort of bib number related grouping, you should consider creating a Wave Offset Rule. Most commonly this is used for events that have a Time Trial start.



You can create a Wave Offset Rule by clicking the Create Rule button on the right hand side of the Wave Offset by Participant dialog.

Beginning Bib No

This is the first bib number of the first bib number range (example "6").

Beginning Wave Time

This is the wave offset time for the first range of bib numbers (example "0:30.00).

Number In Range

Number of bib numbers that all have the same offset time (example "5").

Number Of Ranges

Number of ranges to set up (example "3").

Wave Increment

Amount of time that will elapse between waves (example "0:30.0")


In the example above bib numbers 1 - 5 would have no wave offset since these bib numbers are prior to the beginning bib number.  Bib numbers 6 - 10 will have a wave offset of 0 minutes and 30 seconds since the beginning wave time is "0:30.00, the beginning bib number is "6" and the number in the range is "5".  Bib numbers 11-15 would have a wave offset of 1 minutes and 0 seconds since the wave increment is 0 minutes and 30 seconds.  Bib numbers 11-15 would have a wave offset time of 1 minute 30 seconds, etc.


Once you have created a rule, the grid on the screen will be updated.  It is possible to create rules for bib numbers that are not set up yet.  In this case, you will see "Not Set Up" in place of the participant's name.  In Update->Participants, the wave offset time will be associated with the participant as you add them.


Consider Chip Start Time as Participant Wave Time

The Race Director also allows you to set Wave Offsets by Participant by considering the start reads imported into Enter Results > Chip Results  as Wave Times.


 


When this is selected you will notice that the drop down on Enter Results > Chip Results now says Wave instead of Start Line. With this setting enabled the Gun Times for each participant will be adjusted based on their collected Chip Start times.

Division

The most common use of Wave Offsets is by Division. When this option is selected, a new field opens up in Tailor > Divisions that allows you to enter in a Wave Offset time for each Division.


 

Wave Group


Within these offsets you can group together multiple entities into one Wave Group to simplify your setup, and give you the option to make any type of wave start possible.


For instance, you may have a trail race that has the men go first, followed by the women. In this case you would want to set all male age groups to Wave Group 1, and all female age groups to Wave Group 2, then you would use the Set Wave Times feature once you have determined your start times for each wave. This way, you do not need to enter in the wave offset time for each female age group, you can just enter it once to update all age groups associated with Wave Group 2.


This feature is available for Wave Offsets by Division, Age Group, or Participant. It also will allow you to alternatively set Wave Offset times by the time of day for that start, instead of the offset from the first start of the day.