Help center
Common questions for organizers and participants. Still stuck? Contact us and we'll help.
Registering for a race
How do I register for a race?
Open the event's public page, pick your distance, complete the form (and waiver if required), and pay if there's a fee. You'll get a confirmation email with a QR code for check-in.
Do I have to create an account?
No. You can register for a race without creating an account, but it is easier to manage, save, and claim results if you do create one.
Can I register somebody else?
Yes — a partner, a child, anyone you look after. Sign in first and the form asks who the registration is for. See Registering a partner or child.
What does the Easy or Hard badge mean on a race card?
It compares that race's finish times against the same distance at other races — the marathon against other marathons, not against the event's other distances. Hovering it shows the distance measured and how far off the field it runs. It only appears where at least five other events have run that distance, so it is a real comparison rather than a guess.
Why do some races not have one?
Because there is nothing solid to compare against yet. A race needs at least five other events with published results at the same distance before the badge appears, and a race whose distances disagree — an easy 5K beside a brutal marathon — shows none, because no single word would be true of the whole event. Timed and backyard races never show one: everybody stops at the same moment, so a finish time says nothing about the course.
Will anything be added to the price at checkout?
No. The price shown is the full amount, including any processing fee the organizer passes on, and the form itemises it before you pay. See What it costs.
I filled in the form but never paid. Am I in?
No — an entry is not complete until it is paid for, so you have no spot and no bib. Your details are saved though, so you do not have to start over.
How do I go back and pay?
Look up your registration from the event page using the email address you entered, and use the Pay now button on it. The organizer can also email you a link that opens your entry straight at payment, with no password needed.
My card was declined, or I closed the tab at checkout. What happens?
Nothing is charged and nothing is lost. Your part-finished entry waits for you and you can pay whenever you like, as long as the race is still open and has room. An unpaid entry does not hold a place for you, so if the race has a cap it is worth finishing sooner rather than later.
Open the event page → choose your distance → fill out the form and sign the waiver → pay if required. Watch for your confirmation email.
Open the event page → look up your registration with your email address → Pay now.
What it costs
The price you see is the price you pay.
Is the price I see the price I pay?
Yes. Every price on PlayCompete — on a race card, an event page, a registration form — is the full amount that will be charged, including any processing fee. Nothing mandatory is added at the end.
What is the processing fee?
It covers card processing and running the registration platform. Some organizers pay it themselves, in which case you never see it. Where the organizer passes it on it is part of the price you are shown, and the registration form lists it as its own line so you can see exactly what makes up your total.
How much is it?
For a race, 5.5% of the entry plus $2.00 (5% plus $2.00 above $500). For league dues and tournament entries, 3.9% + $1.00 per transaction. Free entries are free — no fee is charged on $0.
Why does one race show a fee and another does not?
Because the organizer chooses. If they absorb the fee, the price you see is simply the entry fee. If they pass it on, the price you see already includes it. Either way, the number in front of you is what you pay.
Where can I see the breakdown before I pay?
On the registration form. As you pick your distance, apply a promo code or add a donation, the "Your total" panel updates and lists each part — entry, donation, processing fee — above the total.
Does a donation get a fee added?
No. PlayCompete charges no platform fee on donations; the whole gift goes to the organizer to pass on.
What about a promo code?
The discount comes off first and the fee is worked out on what is left, so a code lowers your total by more than the discount alone. Apply it on the form and the total updates before you pay.
I am paying my league dues offline. Is there a fee?
No. The processing fee is only charged when you pay online. Settling with the league directly by cash or check means there is nothing added.
Is sales tax included?
Registrations on PlayCompete are not taxed, so there is nothing to add. If an organizer ever collects tax on something they sell separately, that is theirs to disclose.
Open the registration form → choose your distance or registration type → read the "Your total" panel. It updates as you change anything.
Registering a partner or child
Sign up the people you look after, and keep their entries with your own.
Can I register my child or partner?
Yes. When you are signed in, the registration form starts with "Who is this registration for?" — pick yourself, someone already on your account, or Someone else and type their details. Their entry then sits alongside your own on your dashboard.
My child does not have an email address.
Leave the email field blank. We will use yours, so their confirmation, payment link and any reminders come to you. Their name and date of birth are still their own, which is what age groups and divisions are worked out from.
I registered two children with the same email. Are they two separate entries?
Yes. A person is their name and email together, not the email on its own, so each child keeps their own entry, their own bib and their own results even when they share your address.
Where do I see what I signed everyone up for?
Your account menu → My household. Each person is listed with every race, league season and tournament team they are entered in.
Can I add someone before there is anything to register them for?
Yes. On My household, use Add someone. Nothing is registered — it just saves who they are so the next form fills itself in.
How do I fix a name or date of birth I got wrong?
My household → Edit beside that person. If an entry has already been placed in the wrong age group, contact the organizer as well so they can move it.
What does removing someone do?
It takes them off your account only. Nothing is cancelled and no registration, result or roster spot changes. If their entries use your email address they stay listed, because that is still how their confirmations reach you.
I registered a friend. Did I take over their account?
No. Registering somebody never claims their profile. If they already have an account, or make one later using their own email address, their history stays theirs.
Who signs the waiver for a child?
You do, on their behalf. Once you pick who the registration is for, the waiver wording changes to say exactly that — "I am the parent or legal guardian of [name] and I agree on their behalf" — and it is recorded as a guardian signature with your account named, not as though the athlete signed it.
Can I look up an entry I made for someone else?
Yes. Sign in and it is on your dashboard, or use the event's registration lookup with your own email address — that covers everyone you registered, including a child who has an email of their own. The secure link is sent to your address, not theirs.
Open the registration form while signed in → "Who is this registration for?" → pick them, or Someone else → fill in their details (email optional) → finish as normal.
Account menu → My household → Add someone → name, and a date of birth if you have it.
Account menu → My household.
Creating & joining teams
For relay and team distances.
How do I create a team?
Register for the relay or team distance first and complete your payment. Then open that registration from your dashboard and choose Create a Team, give it a name, and start inviting people.
How do I invite teammates?
Open your team page and invite people by email, or copy the join link and send it however you like. You can resend or cancel a pending invite at any time.
Do my teammates pay separately?
No. When someone joins through your invite link their distance is locked to your team's and the entry fee is already covered by the team captain, so they only fill in their own details and waiver.
How many people can be on a team?
That is set by the organizer on each relay or team distance. Once the team is full the invite link stops accepting new members.
Someone sent me an invite. What do I do?
Open the link they sent you. The team and distance are already chosen for you, so you just complete your own details and sign the waiver.
Register for the relay/team distance → complete payment → Dashboard → open the registration → Create a Team → name it.
Open your team page → invite by email, or copy the join link and share it yourself.
Open the invite link → your distance is already selected → fill in your details and sign the waiver.
Change, transfer, or cancel
How do I view or edit my registration?
Log in to your dashboard, or use the lookup link in your confirmation email, to view, edit, or cancel your registration.
Can I transfer my registration to someone else?
If the organizer allows transfers, start a transfer from your registration. The new participant gets an email, completes their own details, and signs the waiver, the transfer finishes once they do.
How do refunds work?
Refunds are handled by the event organizer per their policy. The payment processing fee is non-refundable.
Log in to your Dashboard (or use the link in your confirmation email) → open the registration → Edit or Cancel.
Open your registration → Transfer → enter the new participant's name and email. They finish their own details and waiver from the emailed link.
Finding your results
Where do I find my results?
Once the organizer publishes results, they appear on the event's public results page and in your dashboard. You can also claim a result that matches you.
Open the event results page → find your result → Claim → verify your date of birth.
Age grading & target times
Two numbers you will see that are not just your finishing time.
What is age grading?
A percentage answering "how good was that, for somebody of this age and sex?" Your time is compared with the best time achievable at your age and sex over that distance. It is what lets a 58-year-old running 22:10 for 5K and a 24-year-old running 19:30 be compared honestly — those are close to the same performance, even though the raw times are two and a half minutes apart.
What counts as a good percentage?
Roughly: 60% and up is local class, 70% regional, 80% national, and 90%+ world class. Most runners sit somewhere in the 45–65% range, and moving a couple of points over a season is real progress.
Why does my result show no age grade?
It needs your age, your sex, and a distance recorded with a number and a unit. If any of those is missing from the result we show a dash rather than invent a figure. Imported results from older races are often missing one.
How exact are the numbers?
They closely follow the published World Masters Athletics road tables, but they are not bit-identical to them. Good enough to compare yourself with others and to track your own progress; not something to submit as evidence for a record.
Can my age grade be over 100%?
We cap it at 100. A figure above that would mean the world standard for your age is out of date, not that you ran faster than is humanly possible.
What is the Target column on a race's registrant list?
A predicted finishing time, worked out for you rather than entered by you. We take your average finishing time from your past results at a similar distance, then adjust it for how hard this particular course runs.
How is the course adjustment worked out?
We compare the average finishing time on this race with the average across all races at a similar distance. A course where everybody runs slower pushes the predictions out, and a fast course pulls them in.
It says I will be slower than I plan to be.
It is built from your average, not your best — so it describes a typical day rather than a good one. It is a rough guide for pacing and for seeing who you will be running near, not a goal.
Why do I have no target time?
You need previous results on PlayCompete at a similar distance. Without any history there is nothing to predict from, and you sort to the bottom of that column.
The target looks like somebody else's time.
Predictions match past results by name, so a common name can blend two runners. Claiming your results ties them to you properly and fixes it.
Who can see this?
The registrant list is public when the organizer turns it on. If you would rather not appear, tick "Hide my name from the public registration list" when you register.
Virtual races
Some races have no start line — you take part wherever you are and send in your time.
How do I send in my result?
Open your registration from the link in your confirmation email. There is a Your Result section: enter your finishing time, the date you did it, and a link to proof if the organizer asks for one.
What counts as proof?
A link to anything that shows the effort — a Strava or Garmin activity, a watch screenshot, a photo. It has to be a full web address starting with http:// or https://. Some races require it, some do not.
Can I change my time after sending it?
Yes, while submissions are open. Change it and send it again — it replaces what you sent before rather than adding a second entry. Once the organizer has accepted it, contact them instead.
How do I know it was accepted?
We email you either way. If it was not accepted you get the organizer's reason, and you can correct it and resubmit while the window is open.
Why will it not take my time?
Enter it as H:MM:SS — 1:04:22 — or MM:SS for something short. Minutes and seconds have to be under 60, and the date cannot be in the future.
When can I submit?
The organizer sets the window. Outside it, the page tells you when submissions open or that they have closed.
Open your registration link → Your Result → enter your time, date and proof → Submit.
Race series & passes
What is a race series?
A set of races scored together, with standings across all of them. You still register for each race separately — the series adds the ranking on top.
How do I know whether a race is in one?
Its event page shows a banner naming the series and linking to the standings. There is also a Series filter on the Find a Race page.
How are standings worked out?
It depends on the series: points by finishing place, lowest combined time, or simply how many races you have completed. Some let you drop your worst race, and some need a minimum number of finishes before you appear at all. The series page states which.
I am not showing in the standings.
Results have to be published by the organizer first, so there is usually a delay after a race. Check the minimum-races rule too. If you appear twice, or under two spellings of your name, claim your results and they will merge.
What is a series pass?
One payment that covers entry to every race in the series, when the organizer offers it. You will see the price on the series page and on each race in it.
How do I use it?
After paying you get a code by email, starting with SP-. Register for each race as normal and enter that code in the promo code box — it covers your entry. Keep the email: the code is how you get into each race.
Can I use it more than once for the same race?
No — one entry per race. When you enter the code we tell you how many races you have left on it.
Do I still have to register for each race?
Yes. The pass covers the cost, not the paperwork — the organizer still needs your details, your waiver and your distance for each race.
Register for the race as usual → paste your SP- code into the promo code box → your entry is covered.
Emails & unsubscribing
How do I stop marketing emails?
Every one has an Unsubscribe link at the bottom. No login needed. You can stop emails about one specific race, or from that organizer entirely.
Will I stop getting my confirmation and receipts too?
No. Confirmations, receipts, refund notices and messages about a race you have entered still reach you — those are records of something you did, not marketing. Unsubscribing covers promotional email and reminders.
I unsubscribed by mistake.
The confirmation page has an Undo button, and the unsubscribe link in any earlier email takes you back to your preferences.
Does unsubscribing from one organizer affect the others?
No. Preferences are per organizer, and per race within them. Each race organizer manages their own list.
What is a finisher card?
After a race, your result has a shareable card — your time, placings, age grade, and whether it was a personal best — as a picture you can download and post. Find it from the 🎽 next to your name on the results page.
Fundraising pages
Available when the organizer has fundraising turned on for the event.
Can I raise money for the event's cause?
If the organizer has enabled fundraising, yes. You get your own page to share with friends and family, and everything raised through it is credited to you.
How do I start a page?
Open your registration from your dashboard and choose Start Fundraising in the My Fundraising panel. Your page is created straight away so you can share it immediately.
What can I change on my page?
Your page title, a headline, your story, a photo, and your fundraising goal. A short personal reason for supporting the cause tends to raise far more than a generic appeal.
How do people donate to me?
Share your page link. Donors can give by card straight from the page, and can leave a message and choose whether their name is shown publicly.
Can I see who donated?
Yes. Your page shows your supporters, the amount raised, and how close you are to your goal. You can also see donations from people who chose to give anonymously, shown as Anonymous.
Can I thank my donors myself?
Yes, and it comes from you rather than the race. On your page there is a Say thanks button next to each supporter, and Thank all to do the lot. Write your own thank-you note on your page and that is what they receive; leave it blank and the organizer's wording is used.
Somebody gave me cash. How do I record it?
Log it on your page — who gave it, how much, and a photo of the cash or cheque if you have one. It shows as awaiting confirmation and does not count toward your total until the organizer confirms the money has reached them. You can remove or correct it until then.
Why does my cash gift not count yet?
Because PlayCompete never handles that money — it is physically with you, and only the organizer can say it arrived. Once they confirm it, it counts toward your total, your team, and the campaign. You get an email either way.
Can I fundraise as a team?
When the organizer allows it. A team total is everything its members raise plus anything given to the team page directly.
Somebody sent me a join code. Where do I enter it?
Dashboard → My Fundraising Pages → Manage on your page → the Team section → Have a join code? Type it in and choose Join. Capitals do not matter. From then on everything you raise counts toward the team as well as toward you.
I have a code but no fundraising page yet.
Start your page first — the code joins your page to the team, so there has to be a page to join with. Open the event's fundraising page and choose Start fundraising, then follow the steps above. It takes a moment and nothing is lost.
I typed the code and it says no team has it.
Join codes only work within the event they belong to, so a code from one race will not find a team on another. Check with your team captain that you have the right code and the right event. A team that has been closed to new members will say so instead.
How do I start my own team?
Same place: Manage your page → Team → Start your own team. Name it, set a goal if you want one, and share the six-character code it gives you. Your own page joins automatically.
What happens to my page if I leave a team?
Nothing. Your page and every donation on it stay yours — leaving only stops your total counting toward that team.
Dashboard → open your registration → My Fundraising → Start Fundraising.
Manage My Page → set your goal, add your story and a photo → Save → copy your link or share to Facebook, X, email, or text.
Manage My Page → Team → enter a join code and choose Join, or start your own team and share its code. Needs your own page first, and the organizer has to allow teams.
Managing your account
Do I need an account to register?
No. You can register for a race as a guest. An account just makes life easier: your registrations, results, and race history are all in one place and you can claim results that match you.
I registered as a guest. Can I still get an account?
Yes. Create one using the same email address you registered with and your existing registrations will be linked to it automatically.
Where do I find my registrations?
My Dashboard lists everything tied to your account: race registrations, results, any leagues you are in, and teams you manage — including entries you made for a partner or a child.
What is "My household"?
The people you have registered — a partner, a child — saved so you do not retype their details every time, and listed with everything they are entered in. Find it in your account menu. See Registering a partner or child.
How do I update my details or password?
From your dashboard, use Edit Profile to change your name, email, phone, or date of birth, and Change Password to set a new password.
Dashboard → Account → Edit Profile → make your changes → Save.
Dashboard → Account → Change Password → enter your current and new password → Save.
Signing in & login problems
I forgot my password.
Choose Forgot password on the login page and we will email you a reset link. The link expires, so if it has been sitting a while just request a fresh one.
I never received my verification email.
Check your spam or promotions folder first, since that is where it usually ends up. You can request a new one from the sign-in screen. New accounts must be verified before you can log in.
I registered for a race but cannot log in.
Registering for a race does not automatically create an account. Create one using the same email you registered with, and your entries will appear on your dashboard.
My password is right but sign-in keeps failing.
This is almost always an old sign-in stored by your browser rather than a problem with your account. Try a private or incognito window: if that works, it confirms it, and clearing this site's stored data in your normal browser will fix it — see the next answer.
Nothing has worked. How do I clear this site's data?
This is the last thing to try, and it fixes sign-in loops, pages that keep showing you as logged out, and buttons that do nothing. It only clears data for sports.playcompete.net — your other sites, bookmarks and passwords are untouched, though you will have to sign in here again.
Chrome or Edge: click the icon to the left of the web address, choose Cookies and site data, then Manage on-device site data, then Delete. Reload the page.
Safari: Safari menu → Settings → Privacy → Manage Website Data, search for playcompete, select it and choose Remove. Reload the page.
Firefox: click the padlock to the left of the web address → Clear cookies and site data. Reload the page.
On a phone, the simplest route is your browser's settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data, choosing Cookies and site data and the shortest time range offered.
If sign-in still fails after that, contact us and say which browser you used and what the screen shows — that combination tells us where to look.
Login page → Forgot password → enter your email → open the emailed link → set a new password.
Open a private/incognito window and sign in. If that works, the problem is stored data in your normal browser, not your account.
Click the icon left of the web address → Cookies and site data → Manage on-device site data → Delete → reload. Only this site is affected; you will sign in again.
Privacy options
Can I remain anonymous?
We believe in privacy choices, and let race directors show only your first name, your first initial and last name, or your full name on registration lists. You can also choose not to be included in the public registration list at all.
Deleting your account
How do I delete my account?
Contact us from the address on your account and ask us to close it, and we will take care of it. There is no self-serve delete button yet, so this is handled by a person.
What happens to my past race results?
Published results are part of an event's public record, so they may remain on the event's results page even after an account is closed. Tell us in your message if you would like your results addressed too, and we will let you know what is possible for that event.
I only want to be less visible, not gone.
You may not need to delete anything. You can choose how your name appears on public registrant lists, or stay off them entirely, and you do not have to keep an account to take part in races.
Contact → send us a message from the email address on your account, asking to close it. Mention any results or listings you would like looked at as well.