For race organisers

Becoming a race organiser

Race Organiser access is granted after a short vetting. It cannot be self-toggled like other roles.

1. Apply Go to Organiser → Apply. The form asks: your name, the race(s) you organise, an approximate next race date, a website or social link, and a short description of your experience (time directing, team size, relevant qualifications).
2. Await Bield review Bield reviews applications and replies within a couple of working days. You'll receive a notification when your access is granted (or if more information is needed).
3. Access the organiser dashboard Once granted, the Organiser section appears in your navigation. You can also apply via email at hello@bield.run.

The organiser dashboard

Everything is grouped under four headings:

Each race card on the dashboard shows runner count, pending volunteers, and marshal-post coverage. Quick actions: race brief PDF, volunteer roster PDF, view as visitor, edit, copy this race, cancel race.

Creating a race — full workflow

The race wizard (Organiser → New race) has nine steps and auto-saves a draft after every step. You can return to finish it later.

1. Basics Name, date, start location, country, distance (km), elevation (m), terrain type (road / trail / mountain / fell), cutoff hours, participant capacity, and an optional waitlist.
2. Route Upload a GPX file (up to 20 MB). The map and elevation profile render immediately. Named GPX waypoints can auto-drop as checkpoints. For multi-stage or relay races you can merge several GPX legs.
3. Contacts Pre-race contact details (for runners to ask questions) and during-race contacts (race-day emergencies).
4. URLs Public race page link, registration page link (where entries are actually taken and paid — Bield links to your own site here), live-tracking link, and registration open / close dates.
5. Rules Pacers allowed (yes / no), crew allowed (yes / no), and your pacing policy (free text — leg rules, joining points, solo-running zones).
6. Checkpoints For each checkpoint: name, location, cutoff time, and per-checkpoint amenities — water, aid station, sleep area, drop bag, food, pacer join point, crew meet point, first aid, parking.
7. Kit Mandatory kit list. You can use presets, your company defaults, or build a custom list per item (with checkable field for each kit item).
8. Features Per-race feature toggles: finisher certificates, split timing, custom questions, and others. Toggling a feature off later hides the tab but never deletes its data.
9. Review Preview everything. Save as draft (private, not yet listed) or publish (live on the Bield race browse page).

Managing a race after creation

The race editor has tabs for everything. You can edit any tab at any time — draft or published.

Your race’s shareable public page

Every race on Bield gets its own unique public page at app.bield.run/race/[id] the moment it’s published. This is the link you post to social media, newsletters, and your own website to drive interest.

What visitors see on the race page

• Race name, date, distance, elevation, terrain type and cutoff
• Interactive route map with the GPX polyline and elevation profile
• Checkpoint list with facilities strip (water, food, drop bag, parking, crew/pacer rules) and the aid-station menu if published
• Race photos (if you have uploaded any)
• Site plan (if published)
• Your “Getting there”, “What to expect”, and other custom content sections
• Link to register on your external ticketing site
• Weather forecast (within 16 days) or historical weather data
• Your organiser / club page link (“Hosted by” chip)

Editing the race page content

From your race editor, go to the Race page tab. Here you can:

• Upload a banner image (displayed at the top of the race page)
• Write an intro paragraph
• Fill in freeform sections: What to expect, Getting there, Facilities, Additional info
• Add custom sections with your own headings (for course notes, history, sponsors, etc.)

Sharing the link

The race page URL is permanent from the moment you publish. Visitors see a Plan & share strip at the bottom of the page with a copy-link button and — on supported mobile browsers — the native Web Share dialog. Encourage runners, pacers and crewers to use this link rather than just linking to your registration site, so they get the full Bield context (route, checkpoints, team planning).

Aid-station menus

Each checkpoint can carry a published list of the food and drink that will be available. Runners and their support teams see this on the race page before race day, helping them plan nutrition and know what to expect at each stop.

Adding a menu to a checkpoint

1. Open the Checkpoints tab and expand a checkpoint In the race editor, go to Checkpoints. Tap the chevron on any checkpoint row to expand it. You’ll see an Aid station menu section at the bottom.
2. Add menu items Tap + Add item. For each item, enter a name (e.g. “Flat Coke”, “Banana”, “Peanut butter sandwich”) and flag it as water, food, or both. Optionally add dietary flags — Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Nut-free, Dairy-free — and approximate carbohydrate (g) and sodium (mg) values.
3. Reorder and remove Items appear in the order added. Use the remove button to delete an item. Re-add in the order you want them displayed.
4. Items are saved immediately There is no “save” button for menu items — each item is written to the database when you add it.

Drop bags

Whether a checkpoint accepts drop bags is a separate facility flag — the drop-bag checkbox in the checkpoint’s facilities strip (see step 6 of Creating a race). Drop-bag availability is shown on the race page separately from the food menu, as an icon in the facilities strip. A checkpoint can have drop bags, a full food menu, both, or neither — they are independent.

Bib allocation

The BibAllocation tab lets you define bib pools, assign colour bands, and distribute bibs to entrants — either automatically or by hand.

Access: race editor → BibAllocation tab.

Creating a bib pool

• Give the pool a name (e.g. “50K Open” or “Relay teams”) and set the bib number range
• Assign a colour band — useful for visually distinguishing sub-races or categories at the finish line
• Optionally link the pool to a specific sub-race distance

Assigning bibs

• Auto-assign — fills bibs in FIFO order as entrants are confirmed. Tap Auto-assign all to run the allocation across the full confirmed entrant list in one pass.
• Manual override — tap any entrant row in the bib list to assign or change their bib number individually.

The full bib list for the race is visible in the BibAllocation tab, showing each bib number, assigned entrant, pool, and colour band. This list is also available as part of the entry list reports.

Entrant roster & payments

Confirmed entrant roster

The Entrants tab shows everyone who has confirmed their entry. Names are displayed in a privacy-respecting format — runners who have opted in share their first name or handle; others appear anonymised. The roster is exportable as a CSV for your own records or briefing packs.

Access: race editor → Entrants tab.

Payments tracker

The Payments tab lets you track payment status per entrant. It is a tracking ledger only — Bield does not process payments. Use it to record entries you have taken through your own system.

Each row supports inline editing of amount, currency, payment date, and a free-text note. No payment processing takes place through Bield.

Access: race editor → Payments tab.

Race Day Desk

The Race Day Desk is the organiser’s live on-the-day control panel. It brings together admissions, scanning, car park, gun start, wave management, field progress, and welfare into one screen.

Access: race editor → Race Day tab.

Race Day Wizard

Before race day, run the Race Day Wizard to confirm everything is ready. It walks through five steps: confirm the entrant list is complete, check marshal status, open admissions, run a scanner check, and display a congratulations summary. Progress is saved in the browser so you can step through it across multiple sessions. Access the wizard from the Race Day Wizard tab.

Admissions (Bib / QR scanning)

The Admissions panel is your primary check-in desk. Type a bib number to search, or tap Scan to activate the camera scanner. The scanner uses the browser’s built-in BarcodeDetector API and supports QR codes, Code 128, EAN-13, DataMatrix, and other common barcode formats. On iOS or Firefox — where BarcodeDetector is not available — the desk falls back to manual bib entry automatically. As runners arrive, tap Mark as arrived; a running count of arrivals is shown at the top of the panel.

NFC check-in

On Android with Chrome, the NFC panel lets you tap a wristband or card to an NFC reader. The NDEFReader API reads the entrant identifier from the tag and immediately performs the check-in lookup. iOS does not support the Web NFC API — an explanatory note is shown in place of the NFC button on unsupported devices. NFC availability is detected at runtime.

Kiosk self-check-in

For tablet deployment at a self-service registration point, the kiosk mode lets runners scan their own QR code to check themselves in without organiser intervention.

Late entry management

Walk-up entrants on race day can be captured within the Race Day tab. The late entry form collects: optional link to an existing Bield account, name, bib number, waiver confirmation, and payment amount. A summary bar at the top of the panel shows total walk-ups, bibs issued, waivers collected, and the running payment total.

Car park control

The Car Park panel uses a PredictiveSelect typeahead matched against a pre-downloaded list of approved plate numbers. Type the first few characters of a plate to find it, or tap the QR scan icon to capture a plate from a printed pass. Confirm each vehicle entry with a yes/no control. The panel works offline against the cached approved-plates list.

Gun start panel

Tap Fire gun start to stamp the official race start time. A live elapsed clock starts from that moment and is visible across the Race Day Desk. Individual wave gun starts are also available from the Wave Starts panel (see below).

Wave starts

Add, edit, or delete start waves from the Wave Starts panel. Each wave has a scheduled start time and a colour code for easy identification. Fire individual gun starts per wave; each fired wave shows its own live elapsed countup clock. Wave start times and gun-fired times feed into split timing and field progress tracking.

DNF / DNS clerk

Change an entrant’s race status to DNF (did not finish) or DNS (did not start) directly from the Race Day Desk using the results API. Updates are reflected in results immediately.

Not-seen safety alert

The Not-Seen panel lists runners who should have passed a given checkpoint but have no recorded passing. Flag a runner as “not seen” to trigger a welfare check workflow with automatic escalation if the alert is not resolved within the configured interval. See also Operations & Safety.

Resupply queue

The Resupply Queue panel shows pending resupply requests submitted by runners or marshals at checkpoints. Fulfil each request by tapping the confirm button. The queue auto-refreshes every 30 seconds so you see new requests without manually reloading.

Marshal leave panel

When a marshal logs a leave event from their post (either RETURNING or NOT_RETURNING), the event appears in the Marshal Leave panel on the Race Day Desk. Mark each event as covered and optionally add a note. The panel auto-refreshes every 30 seconds.

Kit check

The Kit Check panel shows a summary of kit checks carried out at the pre-race check point. Configure mandatory kit items by category: clothing, navigation, safety, nutrition, medical, and other. Each item can be marked as mandatory for the race.

Field progress

Field Progress gives a live per-checkpoint status board showing: when the race leader passed, when the sweep runner passed, the count of bibs recorded at the checkpoint, and whether a stand-down flag has been raised for that checkpoint. The board updates in real time via a PostgREST subscription — no manual refresh needed.

Finish timing

The Finish Timing tab is your real-time finish-line capture tool. As runners cross the line, their finish events are added to an ordered funnel showing the capture sequence.

Access: race editor → Finish Timing tab.

• Ordered funnel — captured finish events appear in order; each shows bib, name (if matched), finish time, and capture mode.
• Token mode reconciliation — if you use physical finish tokens, token-mode entries appear in a separate reconciliation view. Match tokens to bibs before publishing.
• Bulk-publish results — once you are satisfied the finish list is complete and reconciled, tap Publish results to make times visible to runners.

The tab auto-refreshes every 30 seconds so additional finish captures from marshal devices appear automatically.

Race site plan

The Site Plan editor lets you create a visual map of your race venue so attendees, runners, and supporters know exactly where everything is on the day.

Access: race editor → Site Plan tab.

The map canvas

The editor uses an editable Leaflet satellite basemap at zoom level 18 (Esri World Imagery). Navigate to your venue, then drag and place amenity markers directly onto the map.

Amenity types

27 amenity types across four categories:

Point objects and zone objects

• Point objects — drag-to-place markers. Drop them on the exact spot on the map.
• Zone objects — drawn as polygons. Click to add each vertex; close the polygon to finish. Used for areas like car parks, camping zones, and spectator areas.

Legend and publishing

A legend is automatically generated from the placed amenity kinds. Toggle Publish site plan to make the plan visible to attendees on the public race detail page. Unpublished plans are only visible to you in the race editor.

Operations & safety

Bield provides a suite of operations and safety tools accessed via dedicated tabs in the race editor. These tools are designed to give you a clear picture of what is happening across the course in real time.

Live Operations Dashboard (LiveOps tab)

The LiveOps tab is your mission control. It shows a per-checkpoint marshal status grid (who is on post, who is absent), an active incident feed with severity and resolve controls, and a race timing panel (gun start, cutoff countdowns, live entrant counts). All data loads in a single RPC round-trip and the panel auto-polls every 30 seconds.

Task Board (TaskBoard tab) [Premium]

A Kanban board with four columns: To Do, In Progress, Blocked, and Done. Filter tasks by category — permits, course, marshals, signage, participants, logistics, results, safety. A KPI strip at the top shows totals per column. Apply a task template to pre-populate standard race-day tasks instantly.

Risk Register (RiskRegister tab) [Premium]

A 5×5 risk matrix with Likelihood (rare to almost certain) against Impact (negligible to severe). A KPI strip shows Total, Open, Critical, High, Mitigating, and Closed risk counts. Useful for documenting your risk log for permit applications or safety plans.

Incident log (IncidentLog tab)

View, log, and resolve incidents during and after the race. The tab shows two panels: Active incidents (unresolved, with a flash-red banner when new incidents arrive) and History (resolved). Each incident record shows reporter identity, assigned post, GPS coordinates (tappable to open in maps), and severity. Auto-refreshes every 30 seconds.

Live GPS safety tracking (SafetyTracking tab)

Live runner GPS dots plotted on a Leaflet map using the LiveDotLayer. A real-time Supabase subscription listens for SOS alert events — when a runner triggers an SOS, the organiser receives an immediate alert on this screen.

SOS alert system

Runners can trigger an SOS from the Bield app. The SOS appears in the Safety Tracking tab and the Incident Log. Status progresses through: Pending (unacknowledged) → Acknowledged (organiser has seen it) → Resolved (welfare confirmed). Acknowledging an SOS stops the repeat alert sound.

Not-seen safety alert

Flag runners who should have passed a checkpoint but have no recorded arrival. Use the Not-Seen panel (also accessible from the Race Day Desk) to raise a welfare check. The system auto-escalates if the flag is not cleared within the configured time window.

Communications

The Messages tab in the race editor is your two-pane messaging centre. On the left, a role-grouped navigator organises conversations by audience: runners, pacers, marshals, and race team. Select a thread on the right to read and reply. Messages are delivered in real time via Supabase subscription — no refresh required.

Broadcast audiences

When composing a new message, choose a broadcast audience to reach a group in one send:

• All entrants — everyone on your confirmed roster
• Runners only — confirmed running entrants
• Pacers — confirmed pacer commitments
• Volunteers (pending) — interest submissions not yet committed
• Race team — your invited race team members

Scheduled sends

Use the Scheduled Comms Composer to write a message now and queue it for a future date and time. Set the send date, time, and audience, then save. The message fires automatically at the scheduled time — you do not need to have the app open.

Race analytics & audience

Race analytics (Analytics tab)

The Analytics tab gives a live snapshot of how your race is filling and how volunteers are tracking. Stat cards show:

• Fill Rate — confirmed entrants as a percentage of capacity
• Signups Today — new entries in the last 24 hours
• Waitlist Depth — runners on the waitlist
• Marshal Coverage % — posts with a committed marshal vs. total posts
• Confirmation Rate — share of interest submissions that have converted to committed
• Attrition Rate — withdrawals as a share of total sign-ups

Below the stat cards: a cumulative signup sparkline and a 14-day velocity chart. A marshal no-show risk section flags posts where the assigned volunteer has historically not shown up or has not confirmed recently.

Audience analytics & notify (Audience tab)

The Audience tab shows a 4-step conversion funnel: Favouriters → Engagements → Slots filled → Race-day confirmed. Each stage has a count and a percentage drop-off to the next step.

Below the funnel, audience cards let you see and act on specific groups:

• Favouriters — people who starred your race but haven’t engaged further
• Engagements — donut breakdown by engagement state (planning, confirmed, considering)
• Pacer / crewer seekers — runners who have flagged they need support
• Helpers committed — volunteers who have confirmed
• Volunteer interests summary — aggregate of pending interest submissions

Each audience card has a Notify these N runners button that opens the message composer pre-targeted to that audience.

Managing volunteers and marshal posts

1. Marshal posts are created automatically from checkpoints Every checkpoint you add generates a default marshal post. You can also add standalone posts — road crossings, kit-check stations, tail-walker position, medic point, safety marker.
2. Volunteers submit interest Marshals on Bield see your race and submit volunteer interest. You see all interest in the Volunteers tab.
3. Triage and assign Review each volunteer's profile, trust score and availability. Move them through the volunteer pipeline: New → Viewed → Contacted → Committed (or Declined / Withdrawn). Assign committed volunteers to a specific post; their status moves to invited and they receive a notification. Bulk actions are available for moving multiple interest rows through the pipeline at once.
4. Race day tracking The Volunteers tab shows live post coverage — who has checked in, who is on post, and any gaps. Send a “call for help” ping to volunteers near an uncovered post.

Volunteers covering your area

The Volunteers covering this area section surfaces nearby pacers, crewers, and marshals matched to your event zone. Ping volunteers individually, or broadcast to all volunteers of a given role in one tap.

Split timing

If you enable split timing in the Features tab, checkpoint gates record runner passings. Marshals at checkpoints can manually record a bib passing through the checkpoint interface. Splits appear in results after publish.

Prerequisite: Split timing must be toggled on in the race Features tab before race day. You cannot retroactively add splits after the race.

Marshal posts — what3words addresses

Every marshal post is automatically assigned a what3words address (shown as ///word.word.word on the post card). Share this with marshals so they can navigate to their exact position using the what3words app, even in areas without traditional addressing.

Per-post POI activity timeline

Each marshal post has an activity timeline — a chronological feed of lifecycle events (marshal check-in, check-out), incident reports filed at that post, and messages sent to that post. The timeline auto-refreshes every 60 seconds.

Bulk help call

To alert all marshals covering unfilled posts at once, use the Bulk Help Call portal. Write a custom message and send it as a push notification to every marshal assigned to a currently uncovered post. For individual posts, the per-post “Call for help” button sends the same notification to just the marshal(s) at that post.

Marshal bib capture (MarshalCapture tab)

The MarshalCapture tab is optimised for phone use at a checkpoint. It presents a large bib input field and a Record Passing button. Submissions are written optimistically (UI updates immediately) and can be undone within a 15-minute window. Marshal bib capture requires both the splitTiming feature to be enabled and an active marshal check-in at the post.

Race team builder

Build your core race team by inviting Bield users and assigning them named positions. The race team has dedicated messaging channels created automatically in the backend when you add members.

Access: race editor → Race Team tab.

Adding team members

1. Invite by handle or email Type a Bield username or email address. The invitee receives a notification with the race name and proposed position.
2. Assign a position Choose from: Race Director, Operations Manager, Safety/Medical Lead, Aid Station Lead, or a custom free-text position.
3. Channels auto-wired When you add a team member, the backend automatically adds them to the Race Team group channel and any relevant specialty channels (e.g. the Medical channel if they hold the Safety/Medical Lead role).

Team members can see the race editor tabs appropriate for their role and can use the Race Day Desk on the day.

Reports & PDF pack

The Reports tab consolidates all downloadable documents for your race in one place.

Access: race editor → Reports tab.

Available documents

Per-marshal briefing PDFs

Generate an individual briefing PDF for each marshal post. Each briefing contains: post name, what3words address, map, shift times, responsibilities, and emergency contacts. Download individually or bulk-download all as a single zip archive.

Race pack zip

The race pack zip bundles all PDFs and the route GPX file into a single download — useful for sending to your team in one attachment.

Photo manager [Premium]

The photo manager lets you upload, curate, and publish race photos. Runners see approved photos on the public race page.

Access: race editor → Photos tab.

Uploading photos

• Drag and drop photos onto the upload zone, or tap Browse to select files. Maximum 20 photos per batch.
• EXIF data (location, camera details) is stripped from every photo on upload by default. Toggle Keep EXIF to retain it if needed.
• Add an optional caption to each photo during upload.

Moderation status

Each uploaded photo has one of three status chips:

• Pending — uploaded but not yet reviewed
• Approved — visible to the public on the race page
• Rejected — hidden from the public; you can still see it in the editor

Photo location tagging

For each photo you can tag where on the course it was taken using the photo location picker. This plots the photo on the route map on the public race page, giving visitors a sense of where specific course moments were captured.

Feature toggles & custom questions

The Features tab gives you per-race control over which capabilities are active. Toggling a feature off hides the relevant tab from view but never deletes the underlying data — you can re-enable the feature at any time.

Access: race editor → Features tab.

Feature toggles

12 per-race toggles are available, covering areas such as: finisher certificates, split timing, kiosk check-in, photo manager, custom questions, and others. Preset bundles let you apply a standard set of features in one tap (e.g. a “trail race” preset or a “full race-day ops” preset).

Custom sign-up questions

Create custom questions to ask entrants during the sign-up workflow. Add, edit, and delete questions inline in the Features tab. Collected answers are available in the SignupAnswers tab as a searchable list and as a CSV export.

Results — upload and publish

1. Go to the Results tab After the race, open your race editor and go to Results.
2. Add results Either add manually (per row) or tap Import CSV. CSV columns are auto-detected by header name. Supported columns: bib, name, time, status, distance, category, position, notes, and optionally email (used for certificate delivery to non-Bield runners).
3. Validate (dry run) Before anything is written, you see a row-by-row pass/fail preview. Fix any errors, then confirm. CSV limits: 5 MB, 5,000 rows.
4. Choose import mode Append/update (matched on bib + distance — safe for adding to existing results) or Replace (wipes existing rows first — use carefully; no undo).
5. Publish Results stay private until you tap Publish. Once published, runners matched to a Bield account see their result in their engagement. This is also the prerequisite for sending certificates.

Result statuses supported

Finished, DNF (did not finish), DNS (did not start), DQ (disqualified), withdrawn.

You can also change DNF / DNS status live on race day from the Race Day Desk → DNF / DNS Clerk, without going through the full results import flow.

Finisher certificates — design and send

Designing your certificate

Go to Dashboard → Public presence → Certificate. Certificate design is saved per organisation and applies to all your races unless overridden.

• Accent colour — matches your page theme or set a custom hex
• Certificate heading text
• Congratulations message — supports {race} and {name} tokens
• Race director name (printed on the certificate)
• Optional rosette / badge stamp overlay
• Display toggles: route map watermark, elevation caption, finishing position, total finishers

Tap Preview certificate at any time to see a sample PDF in the current design.

Email template

Below the certificate design panel, the email template editor sets the subject and body for the notification email. Available variable chips:

{runner_name}  ·  {race_name}  ·  {race_date}  ·  {finish_time}  ·  {position}  ·  {total_finishers}  ·  {organiser_name}  ·  {certificate_link}  ·  {join_link}

A live preview refreshes as you type. A “Sent by [you] via Bield” footer is always appended; it cannot be removed.

Sending certificates

1. Open Results → Send certificates Finishers are grouped into three categories: in-app (Bield members), by email (non-members with an email on the CSV), and no contact (no email, not on Bield).
2. Review and tweak (optional) You can adjust the subject and body for this send only, without changing your saved template.
3. Send Certificates render in your browser and are delivered in batches. Keep the tab open until the progress bar completes.
   • In-app: runners receive an in-app notification and a push notification. The certificate is downloadable from their engagement.
   • By email: non-Bield runners receive an email with a time-limited download link (valid 30 days) and a join-Bield invite block.
   • No contact: skipped. To reach these runners, add their email to the results CSV and run Send certificates again.
4. Review the summary After delivery, a summary shows sent / failed / skipped per runner. To resend (e.g. after fixing an email), open Send certificates again — it re-delivers to any runner who was previously failed or skipped.

For the full certificate walkthrough with a real example, see Finisher certificates.

Race lifecycle

Common questions