Running an Event

1. Create the event

Start from the club dashboard, create the event, then review the event dashboard for the sections, riders, observers, and results tools you will use through the day.

2. Add riders and entries

Import riders from a spreadsheet if you already have a list, or add riders and manual entries one by one for late decisions and event morning changes.

The importer accepts ACU online entry exports, TrialMonster files, and any generic CSV or Excel file. See the Importing Data guide for format details, sample files, and step-by-step export instructions.

3. Prepare observer access

There are three ways to give a volunteer access to score a section. Understanding which to use will save you time on the day.

• Assigned observer link — the best starting point. You assign a named volunteer to a section, then share their personal link or QR code with them. When they open it, they go straight into scoring their section — no login, no extra steps. Generate these from the Observers page before the event.
• Section QR code — a general-purpose code for a specific section, not tied to any named person. Useful if a last-minute substitute turns up and you don't have time to set up an assigned link. Anyone who scans it can score that section.
• Event backup QR — covers every section in the event. Keep this in your back pocket for genuine emergencies — for example, if nothing else is working and you need to get someone scoring quickly. Do not share this as the normal way to get observers started.

4. Assign observers

Use the Observers page to add volunteers, assign them to sections, and print or share their individual access links. The roster here is your source of truth for who is covering which section.

If a volunteer can't continue mid-event, you have two options for handing over to someone else:

• Same phone, new person — the simplest option. Pass the phone to the replacement volunteer and use the hand-off button in the app. No internet needed, no data is lost.
• Different phone — if the replacement has their own device, use the offline transfer option in the app. It generates a QR code on the original phone. The replacement scans it to receive all the scores so far. Once the transfer is done, the original phone should stop scoring that section.

When signal is poor, always try the same-phone hand-off first.

5. Support handoffs clearly

Remind volunteers before the event: only one person should be scoring each section at any time. If you use the different-phone transfer, make sure the original phone stops scoring as soon as the transfer is done — otherwise scores can split across two devices.

6. Help a stuck observer

When an observer contacts you during the event, work through this in order:

1. Ask what they can see on screen. Often they are on the wrong page and just need pointing in the right direction.
2. Resend their assigned link. If they had an assigned observer link, resend it. Opening a fresh link usually resolves access problems.
3. Share the section QR code. If resending the assigned link didn't work, use the section QR code from the Observers page to get them scoring quickly. They won't be listed as the named observer, but scoring will work.
4. Use the event backup QR. Only use this if nothing else has worked and you need a quick recovery path across multiple sections.

If the volunteer needs to stop mid-event, see the hand-off steps in section 4 above.

7. Monitor scoring and entries

Use the event dashboard, entries page, and results page together to monitor how the day is progressing. This is the easiest way to spot missing riders, late changes, or issues before you publish results.

8. Lock scoring when needed

When the event is ready for final review, lock scoring from the event dashboard. Unlock again only if you need to correct a late issue.

9. Publish results

Open the results workflow, confirm the standings look right, then publish the public results link so riders and club channels can use it immediately.

10. Running a Time + Observation trial

In a standard observed trial, a rider's final score is the total of their observed marks — one number per section, 0 to 5. In a Time + Observation trial (also called T&O, common in classic and pre-65 events), the rider's overall ride time is also recorded. Any time spent beyond a set allowance adds penalty marks to their observed total. This means two riders with identical section marks are separated by whoever was faster.

Enabling T&O when creating an event: Tick the “Time + Observation format” box when you create the event. Three fields will appear:

• Time allowance (minutes) — the total time each rider is permitted to complete all sections. Riders who finish within this window receive no time penalty.
• Time penalty (marks per second over) — how many penalty marks each second over the allowance adds to the score. The default is 1 mark per second, which is standard for most UK T&O events.
• Maximum time penalty (optional) — a cap on the total time penalty. If you leave this blank, there is no cap and the penalty grows without limit. Enter a number to stop the penalty at that value — useful if a very slow ride would otherwise distort the standings.

Recording a rider's time on the scoring screen: When you open the scoring screen for a T&O event, a “Ride Time” panel appears above the section navigation. Tap Start when the rider sets off and Stop when they finish. The app saves the time immediately. If you missed the start or stop, use the “Enter time manually” link to type the time directly in m:ss format (for example, 3:47 for three minutes and forty-seven seconds).

How the penalty is calculated: Once a rider's time is saved, the system computes the penalty automatically. For example: if the allowance is 4 minutes (240 seconds), the penalty rate is 1 mark per second, and the rider took 4 minutes 15 seconds (255 seconds), then they are 15 seconds over — so their time penalty is 15 marks. Their final score is their observed marks plus 15. If a cap of 20 marks was set, the penalty would be limited to 20 regardless of how far over they ran.

What the results look like: T&O events show three extra columns in both the admin results preview and the public results page: Marks (the raw observed total), Time (in m:ss), and Time Penalty. The Total column shows the combined score. Riders with equal totals are ranked by raw time — the faster rider places higher.