Timed to the second. Counted to the last runner.
Leaderboard runs race timing and event control on Android phones and NFC tags. Results that stand up when a stage win comes down to seconds, and a running count of every runner, marshal and drop bag your event moves.
Why we built our own timing
Beyond the Ultimate's races share a format: multiday stage racing, where a podium can come down to seconds carried across five days. The differences are what caught us out. ForRangers in Kenya needs wave starts on some days and not others. The Highland Ultra enters runners as Clans, where individual times add up to one Clan time.
Nothing we could buy did all of that, so we built it: Android phones marshals already know how to use, NFC tags that survive a week in the mountains, and a results engine that carries wave offsets, penalties, credits and Clan entries through to a finishing position.
Leaderboard now times Beyond the Ultimate's global series. View the Mountain Ultra leaderboard →
Every tap is a timestamp you can defend.
How a tap becomes a result
Tag
Every runner carries an NFC tag. Passive and unpowered, so there is nothing to charge the night before a stage.
Tap
Marshals tap runners through on Android phones at starts, checkpoints and finishes. Each tap writes a timestamp.
Sync
The phones speak to each other. Every handset carries the same race picture, so one flat battery costs you nothing.
Time
Waves, penalties, teams and stages resolve into one live leaderboard as runners cross the line.
The maths organisers actually face
Four things decide a runner's real position on a multiday event. Each one came from a race that needed it.
Wave starts
Each wave carries its own start offset, applied on the days that use them, so accumulated times stay true whatever time a group went off. Built for ForRangers in Kenya.
Penalties and credits
Time added, or time handed back. Applied in the system and visible in the results the moment it is issued.
Teams
Individual times in, one team time out. Built for the Highland Ultra, where runners enter as Clans.
Stage racing
Stage wins and overall accumulated time, updating live across a multiday event.
Every race day ends with the same question: is everyone off the course?
A race is one long counting problem
The tap that times a runner also counts them. By the end of the day that gives you the two answers most events chase over the radio: who is still out on the course, and whether everyone is home.
Checkpoint record
One definitive answer to who has been through a checkpoint and who has not. Race control and the checkpoint team read the same list at the same time.
Course clear
Runners, marshals, medics and sweepers, all tapped out at the end of the day. The count closes itself, and you know the hill is empty before you stand the team down.
Bags and buses
Where every drop bag is and where it's going next, from van to checkpoint to runner. Runners on and off coaches counted the same way.
Runner information
Emergency contacts, next of kin and medical notes held against the runner's record. The marshal holding the phone has them at the moment they matter.
Watch it working
The Mountain Ultra runs its live results on Leaderboard. Open the page mid-race and watch positions move as runners are tapped through.
See the live leaderboardThe Highland Ultra runs it too, timing Clan entries across the whole race. ForRangers in Kenya uses it on the days that start in waves. How it came about →
The platform runs the months before. Leaderboard runs the day.
Entries, payments, waitlists and runner comms sit in the ADVNTM platform. Timing and control on the ground sit in Leaderboard. One system, end to end.
What organisers ask
What kit does Leaderboard need?
Android phones and NFC tags: kit a checkpoint team can carry in a pocket. No gantries, no timing mats.
Does it replace GPS tracking?
No, and they run alongside each other. Beyond the Ultimate uses trackers for live location between checkpoints and Leaderboard for the official times and finishing positions.
Can it handle wave starts, teams and penalties?
Yes. Wave offsets, team aggregation, time penalties and credits, and multiday accumulated times are what it was built for. Each came out of a race that needed it: wave starts from ForRangers in Kenya, Clan entries from the Highland Ultra.
What else can it run?
Anything at an event that needs counting: drop bags, coach headcounts, checkpoint occupancy, kit checks. Same tags, same phones.
How do I know everyone is off the course?
Everyone on your event carries a tag, staff included. Tap people out at the finish, the checkpoint or the coach, and the outstanding list is whoever has not been tapped. You stand the team down on a count, not a hunch.
What runner information does it hold?
Whatever your event needs on the hill: emergency contacts, next of kin, medical notes and allergies, held against the runner's record and visible to the marshal scanning them through.
Where is it in use?
Across Beyond the Ultimate's global race series, including the Mountain Ultra, the Highland Ultra and ForRangers in Kenya.
Bring it to your start line
See Leaderboard running at a real event before you commit to anything. We'll walk you through the kit, the setup and what race day looks like.
Talk to an organiser