SPORTident is an electronic timing system used at the majority of orienteering events in Europe and has been used in UK mountain marathons for several years now.

At registration, each competitor will be given a SI Card (aka dibber) which is a small plastic, electronic tag.  We will attach the card loosely to the wrist of one team member using a wristband, with the tip pointing towards the fingers.  It’s best to use a wrist that hasn’t got a watchstrap on it. The card must be worn for the entire duration of the event – it will not be removed at the overnight campsite.

 

At each checkpoint the SI card should be “dibbed” into a hole on the top of the control box. The box will flash and beep as it stores the control number and time onto the card. A demonstration control box will be present near registration which you can use to familiarise yourself with the punching process.

START DIBBING

When you arrive at the Start Area a marshal will first ask you to CLEAR your card. This will take about 5 seconds before the Clear station beeps. As you then set off you must dip your card into the START box to start the timing (which will be instantaneous). If the box doesn’t beep then the card is not empty. In this case, go back and dip the card into a Clear box again. Don’t worry about any delay as you are not timed until the START box goes beep. It is IMPERATIVE that you dip the START box.

On Day 2, we will again check your cards are Cleared before starting. This process will cause a bit of a queue into the “start pen” so please be sure to be ready on time – especially in the C Class.

CHECKPOINT DIBBING

At each checkpoint the card should be dipped into a hole on the top of the control box.

The box will flash and beep as it stores the control number and time onto the dibber. If you visit a checkpoint and you do not get a flash and bleep, try a couple more times.  If still no success use the needle type punch to punch your control description sheet to indicate that you have visited the checkpoint and/or write down the 3-letter word which is marked on top of each box.  Carry on and mention the problem at the finish desk.  It should be stressed that these alternative procedures are a back-up and only need to be used if a control box has failed – which is rare.

If you accidentally dib a control which is not on your course, don’t worry, the results system will ignore it.

If you dib a control in the wrong order you must return to it again after visiting the correct controls first. The results system will take the time of the second visit – ie; you can visit as many controls as you like but only the correct ones for your course in the correct order will count.

FINISH DIBBING

The last control is the FINISH box. From there you should walk directly to the Download Station at the finish desk where you will download your times into the computer. You will be given a print-out showing the following information:

• list of checkpoints in order visited and time of punching
• start, finish and elapsed time

Please check the printout to ensure that you agree with it and if there is a discrepancy, alert the timing organiser.

On the first day, after download you must Clear your card in readiness for Day 2. DO NOT CLEAR YOUR CARD UNTIL YOU HAVE CHECKED YOUR PRINT-OUT.

At the end of the second day we will cut the SI Card off the wrist of the card carrier.

Please take care of your SI Card as each card costs £30.  If you retire from the event you must return it to the finish control.  If you lose or break one it will unfortunately be necessary to charge you £30 to cover the cost.  Your SI Card, just like a control punch card is the only evidence that you have visited a checkpoint.