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Running SuperTimer with RaceManager

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What do I do if the software crashes?

Software crashes are exceedingly unlikely but in any event are effectively no different from loss of power. In either case, RaceManager is very well protected. Anytime any data is accepted (entry info or heat result for example), that information is written to your hard drive permanently. Other than a complete hard drive crash or complete computer failure (doesn't turn on), the worst-case loss is limited to the heat on the track. If an entry is corrupted, it can be fixed and the entire results re-computed. If a heat is lost, it can be run and the entire results re-computed. RaceManager even protects against typos. If you mis-entered a racer's team and didn't discover it until all the races had been run, the fix is easy. Change the team to the correct one and RaceManager will automatically recalculate all the results. Note: if you made more than one typo, only the first is corrected automatically. To correct the others, first fix the typos, then select 'Repair Data' under 'File - Misc'.

How long does it take to run the race?

From user reports, with the RaceManager the race should last about two minutes per racer, even faster if you organize the event well. It doesn't matter how many lanes you have, the number of runs equals the number of racers. Here's an example that demonstrates that point. Assume there are 40 racers. If you have a four lane track, each racer will get four runs down the track--once in each lane. However, you will be running four racers at once, so here's the formula:

40 racers * 4 runs/racer = 160 runs.

(For this example, a run is one car running from start to finish, and a heat is a group of cars, usually equal to the number of lanes, running from start to finish.) Since there are four lanes, one heat equals four runs. Therefore...

160 runs * (1 heat/4 runs) = 40 heats,

which is equal to the number of racers. If you had a six lane track, the formulas would be:

40 racers * 6 runs/racer = 240 runs and
240 runs * (1 heat/6 runs) = 40 heats,

which is again equal to the number of racers. This is not exactly true if the number of racers is not evenly divisible by the number of lanes. But the number of heats for any number of racers is no more than the number of racers plus the number of lanes minus one (assuming no re-runs).