RaceOS
RaceOS live event experience

Timed Bibs & Transponders

A timed bib carries a lightweight, battery-free UHF transponder. RaceOS follows that transponder from encoding and verification through issue, race-day use and retirement.

The hardware

Each timed bib carries a passive UHF inlay—the established class of battery-free transponder used across the timing industry and selected for reliable reading at race pace.

The lifecycle

A bib's tag moves through a strict one-way state machine, enforced by the platform itself — a bib can never accidentally skip a step or move backward, only forward or straight to retired:

BLANKENCODEDVERIFIEDISSUEDACTIVERETIRED
Every bib tag moves through this state machine in order — a tag can be retired from any state, but never moves backward.
  • BLANK — a fresh, unencoded inlay, not yet linked to anyone.
  • ENCODED — the tag's unique EPC has been written.
  • VERIFIED — a real read confirms the encode succeeded.
  • ISSUED — assigned to a specific runner's registration.
  • ACTIVE — worn and read at least once on race day.
  • RETIRED — permanently taken out of circulation.

Why a strict lifecycle matters

Every finish time, split, and rank traces back to exactly one tag in exactly one state at exactly one moment. A lifecycle this explicit is what lets a bib be reissued after a runner swap, or a lost bib, without ever creating ambiguity about whose result a given read belongs to.