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FAQ
We time for towns, cities, school districts, colleges/universities, & nonprofits throughout New England.
Just last season our customers included UMASS Amherst, Southern New Hampshire University, Amherst College, USA Track & Field-New England, The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, Town of Hampstead, NH, Salem, NH School District, Dan Healy Foundation, Sabine Strong 33 Foundation, Souhegan School District, Hollis-Brookline School District, Milford, NH School District, Nashua, NH School District, Milford, NH School District, Portsmouth, NH School District, Concord, NH School District, Milton Academy, Tabor Academy and many, many others.
Who are your customers?
We need to know a couple of things first. What is the date and start time of your race? Approximately how many runners do you expect? Do you have any other special requests (i.e. a separately timed kids race, special custom printed bibs, inflatable arch)? If we have any other questions we will give you a quick call or send you an email.
Once we have this information we can give you an estimate very quickly, usually within 24-48 hours. If you decide you like our estimate and want to proceed further, we will send you a formal written quote for your review.
What is Fully Automatic Timing (FAT)?
Why should we choose North Star Timing?
Fully automatic timing (FAT) is used for track events and is is a form of race timing in which the clock is automatically activated by the starting device, and the finish time is either automatically recorded, or timed by analysis of a photo finish. We use a Finish Lynx System manufactured by Lynx Developers which includes a full color EtherLynx Vision Camera (capture rate 1000 frames per second, far exceeding NFHS standards) in combination with an Identilynx Full-Frame frontal video capture camera. This allows us to time synchronize all finish line images from two separate angles producing accurate time stamped results.
We'll give you 4 good reasons......
1. We are runners and we get it
First and foremost, we are runners. The owners of the company have run literally hundreds of races (a combined 20 marathons — including 9 Boston Marathons). We have also coached high school cross country and track for many years and founded a very successful junior olympic youth cross country program. We have served as race directors ourselves and know the pressure you are under. We know the importance of fast & super accurate results. Nothing is more frustrating than having to wait 30 to 45 minutes (sometimes more!) after your race for the result to be posted Our goal is simple: we want you to have a fantastic, accurately timed event and we want to earn your return business for sure!
2. Cost
We will offer you a very competitive quote. We are locally owned and not part of a large regional or national company which helps us keep our overhead costs low. We want to make your race a financial success with an affordable quote. You will not re-hire us if you feel you have been overcharged for our services. Oh yes, one more thing: We will NEVER tie you down with a multi-year contract (or ie. have you buy excess timing chips so you will feel obligated to hire us the next year). We will earn your business back each and every year!
3. Responsiveness
We don’t make you wait. We respond right away to any email or call. We get it, you don’t want to have to be sitting around waiting for a callback from your timing company when you have important decisions to make, especially as the race date approaches and the pressure is on. Once you hire us you’ll have our personal cell phone numbers.
You won’t see us take on more than we can handle or sub-contract your race out to a timing crew who you’ve never met until the day of the race. I’ll bet we will have spoken or emailed each other many times before the day of your race.