How Checkpoint compares to the way most races run today
Most adventure races are run with some mix of clipboards, radios, group texts, and spreadsheets. It works, because race directors and volunteers make it work. It also costs time, money, and clutter, and it leaves you guessing at the moments that matter. Here’s the job-by-job comparison.
| Race-day job | Paper & clipboards | Radios & group texts | Spreadsheets | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race setup | Course notes and rules scattered across documents | Not what radios are for | A tab per TA, edited by hand | Course, rules of travel, and volunteer notes set up once in Race Ops |
| Backup check-in sheets | Hand-drawn or hand-formatted | Not applicable | Formatted, printed, and redone whenever the roster changes | Printed from your Race Ops setup: a check-in sheet and a one-pager for each TA, listing assigned volunteers and your notes |
| Where is every team? | Whatever the last runner brought back | Whoever is on the air right now | As current as the last person to type | TA check-ins and check-outs reach race HQ as volunteers log them, so with sequential TAs you can see who is on each leg |
| Talking to volunteers | Notes in the briefing | Easy to miss and impossible to search later | A separate group text | One Race Messages feed, RD messages tagged, with an unread indicator |
| Fixing a mistake | Cross it out and hope the next reader understands | Nothing recorded | Overwrite the cell | History for every team with undo; volunteers undo their own entries, admins undo anyone’s |
| Onboarding a volunteer | Printed instructions and a briefing | A radio and a verbal briefing | A link to the sheet | Sign in, or use the code you email them; TA info in the app plus a one-page field guide |
| After the race | Boxes of paper to transcribe | No record | Whatever got typed in | A timestamped record of check-ins, check-outs, notes, and checkpoint entries |
| Overdue teams | Someone compares the clipboard to the clock | A call over the radio, if someone notices | Whoever has the sheet open | Cut-off times you set trigger in-app alerts for race directors to review and act on; volunteers can flag teams too |
| Sweep & cleanup | A list someone has to remember to check | Hope the sweep crew radios in | A tab nobody updates after the race | Tracked separately from race-day events, so volunteers see a clean view |
| Works without signal? | Yes | Depends on radio coverage | Only if saved locally | No. It needs Wi-Fi or cellular so updates are real-time. Print backup sheets for TAs without signal |
| Cost | Printing and volunteer hours | Radios to buy or rent | “Free,” paid for in your hours | Free through 2026, then a $50/year subscription for every race you direct |
Add up your own stack
- Printing and paper for rosters, sheets, and instructions
- Radios, or the rental and phone plans that stand in for them
- Any tracking or tool subscriptions Checkpoint would replace
- The hours you and your volunteers spend building sheets and relaying messages
Where paper still belongs
We’re not asking you to retire the clipboard. Remote TAs lose signal, and paper is cheap insurance. The difference is that your backups are generated from the same setup volunteers see in the app, so nothing contradicts anything. See backup check-in sheets and TA one-pagers.
What Checkpoint doesn’t replace
Checkpoint is built for race-day operations: check-in, TAs, volunteer notes and messages, and tracking. It sits alongside the tools you already trust for registration, course design, and timing. We’re working to integrate with the best partners in adventure racing. Read more about the ecosystem we’re building.
Pricing
Race Ops is free for race directors through 2026. Starting in 2027, a $50/year subscription covers full access to the Race Ops platform for every race you direct.
Related guides
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