My first event

The aim here is to time a very simple event, consisting of two running races that will take place simultaneously or one after the other: a half-marathon and a 10 k. This sequence allows you to quickly approach all the steps necessary in Wiclax to time and rank an event. The other parts of this documentation will help you get a more complete view of the Wiclax software.

After downloading and installing Wiclax on a Windows PC, launch the software via the icon or the start menu.

The Wizard

At your first event, it's a good idea to start with the Event Creation Wizard. The wizard is the first choice available in the Start screen.

In the first window of the wizard, we suggest you enter the following elements: the name of the event, the name of the organizer, and the date of the event in the 3 fields at the top. Here, we will time the Half and 10 km of Gap, organized by Courir à Gap on Sunday, August 11, 2024.

In the lower left part, we select the Running discipline. This choice allows us to retrieve timekeeping parameters related to running, such as rounding times up to the next second. It also allows you to have the list of running federations and to select the French Athletics Federation here.

Finally, we will choose Road Running from the different predefined types of running that are offered.

In the second step of the wizard, we'll keep it simple: we'll enter Half Marathon and 10 km in the Races/Routes block.

The wizard is finished. We can click on the Create the event button at the bottom right.

The main interface of Wiclax opens and we find our two races.

Saving

After this initial step, it's a good idea to save the file for the sporting event. Just like in Microsoft software such as Word or Excel, you'll need to click the Save the event icon to save the file. When you first save the file for the event, you'll be asked to specify the location.

Setting up the bib number ranges

While not strictly necessary, in our example, we'll be setting up the specific parameters for our two races: the Half Marathon and the 10K. The quickest way to access is by double-clicking on Half Marathon or 10K to open the General Options window in the Races/Routes tab.

In this window, we'll fill in the distance for each race (which will help calculate the runners' average) and define a bib range: from 1 to 1000 for the Half Marathon and from 1001 to 2000 for the 10 km. In most races, we encounter this type of range. This means that bib 464 is registered for the half marathon, while bib 1288 is registered for the 10 km.

Importing or entering competitors

In this stage, we will logically register competitors who take part in our event. One possibility is to manually register a rider via the entry form. This form can be opened with the F2 shortcut key or by the New icon on the Registrations tab of the ribbon.

Here the information of the runner of bib 2 has been entered and you simply have to click on the Validate button on the form to find him registered and make him appear in the grid. It should be noted that the Half marathon race is automatically assigned to him, in accordance with the bib range.

Obviously, it is often necessary to import data from an external file rather than entering each individual participant.

For example, let's imagine that it is necessary to import an Excel file as shown below.

The most efficient solution is to copy the data area to Excel by selecting it and using the Copy function (Ctrl+C). Once the data is contained on the clipboard, the import window must be opened by clicking on the Import icon on the Registrations menu on the ribbon.

In the import window, we will specify that we want to import the data contained on the clipboard. The other options don't need to be changed for our example.

In the next step, simply link each data column to a corresponding data point in the software. To do this, simply click on the column header to open the drop-down list and select the appropriate one.

By clicking the Import button at the bottom right, you can add competitors to the list of participants.

A pop-up window appears, providing information about our import. You can find more information in the dedicated section: Importing or entering competitors.

It's worth noting that the competitors were automatically assigned to one of the two races based on their bib number. By clicking on the Half marathon button or the 10K button, competitors will be filtered to the display based on the relevant race.

Our example is intentionally simplified. There are numerous parameters, data, and options for importing competitors. They are outlined in the dedicated section: Importing or entering competitors.

The timing !

Start time for the races

We now have a list of participants for both of our races. The moment has arrived: the runners will soon be on their way. In our example, the half-marathon kicks off at 9:30 am, while the 10 km race starts at 10:00 am.

To make the discovery of Wiclax as simple as possible, the start is done without individual detection. The starting time for everyone will be the moment known as the 'gunshot'.

Below, we'll show you how to set the start time of the Half Marathon to the exact moment of the start, based on the PC's time. We could also enter this departure time manually, shortly after the race starts.

Wiclax is designed to operate according to the time of day. We utilize GPS time, for instance, as a reference. A race doesn't start at 0:00:00, but rather at 9:01:12, for instance. This is a crucial aspect of effectively utilizing Wiclax.

Depending on the race type, you may need to manage races with chip times and gun times, individual starts (time trial), wave starts, and lap starts (backyard events). In short, there are numerous ways to handle departure times. You can find these methods detailed in the section dedicated to dealing with starts.

The acquisitions

To finalize our ranking, we'll connect to our timing box to gather each runner's arrival times. What we refer to as acquisitions in Wiclax.

To access the Acquisitions window, simply click on Acquisitions in the Results - Classifications tab of the ribbon.

In the animation below, we show you how to select your hardware brand and create an acquisition. Here, we've opted for URTime equipment, but the underlying logic remains consistent across all equipment. Once the acquisition is created, we'll fill in the connection parameters, which are often the IP address of the box and the port. This information is provided by the hardware manufacturer or is determined by your own settings.

To communicate in live with timing equipment, a TCP-IP connection is typically required. To accomplish this, we will input the reader's address in the acquisition. The reader must be connected to the same network as the computer, but with a distinct IP address. For more information on this topic, please refer to the section Acquistion of timing data

.Once the acquisition is set, the "Connect" button is used to establish the connection. The principle is simple: the timing hardware sends timing data to the software. In the case of RFID timing systems, these are data frames including a transponder number and a timestamp.

To ensure correct timing, it is important to work on a single time base. For example, we will ensure that all the timing boxes are set to GPS time and that the starting time of the races entered in the software is based on this same GPS time. In this way, Wiclax will be able to calculate the race time very simply by subtracting the departure time entered from the time of passage on the line coming from the RFID equipment.

Here we go! When the first competitors are detected on the finish line, Wiclax will process the information received and establish the ranking in real time. Thumbnails will be displayed on the right or left edge of the screen and the results grid will fill up.

Everything becomes possible from there: print the rankings for the marathon, for the 10 km, print the document allowing you to host the awards ceremony with all the rewarded runners, but you can go much further.

It is possible to make the results accessible live on a screen intended for the presenter, or to display them on a giant screen.

We can also publish them on the Internet in the same way.

We can send the information or the video signal necessary to a TV control room to make overlays in real time.

We can send SMS or emails to competitors or their loved ones throughout the event.

In short, a world of possibilities is available to you from Wiclax and this documentation aims to provide you with maximum support to guide you in this universe.