Timing a hybrid race with a chip system

On a hybrid race, the time is what counts. Athletes string the stations together, they cross the finish line and they want their time shown right away, accurate and reliable. A volunteer behind a manual stopwatch means logging errors, duplicates, the athlete who disputes their time. The Throwdown chip timing pack removes that friction: times flow into the ranking on their own, with no one to coordinate on the day. Here is how it works.

The principle: one velcro transponder per athlete, one sensor at the finish

The system relies on two parts. Each athlete wears a light velcro transponder that does not get in the way of the movement. At the finish line, you place a single professional high-precision battery-powered sensor. That is it. There is no sensor per station and no gantry at each event: the finish is what matters. When an athlete crosses the line, the sensor records their passing time. Nothing else to handle during the race.

Net time, computed on its own

A hybrid race starts in heats. Each heat has a start time. We know the start time of each athlete's heat and the finish time recorded by the sensor, then we do the subtraction: net time = finish minus heat start. That net time appears automatically in the ranking, with the rank per division and the gap to the leader. You have no score to enter: this is the one case where the ranking updates as finishers come in, because the data comes from the sensor and not from a judge.

Why it beats a manual stopwatch

A manual stopwatch depends on a human hand and eye. With 30 finishers close together, you get the wrong name, you log a time to the second instead of the tenth, you miss an athlete. With chips, the reading is reliable and identical for everyone. The athlete gets an experience close to an official race: they cross the line, their time drops, they see their rank and their gap to the leader. For you, it is one fewer volunteer on the stopwatch and zero time disputes. If you are new to running this kind of format, our guide on running a functional fitness competition walks through every step.

Logistics: rental, pickup, setup

The pack rents for the weekend. You book it ahead, you pick the gear up on Friday evening and you return it on Monday. Setup is simple: the sensor goes at the finish, the velcro transponders are handed out to athletes at check-in. No wiring per event, no manual logging.

It is an add-on service. You can run your competition without the pack and use it only for your timed formats. For the full breakdown of registration fees and plans, it is all on the pricing page.