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Handoff is where relay teams plan and run race day. Captains build the roster, assign legs, share logistics and see projected times. On race day, the Handoff app times every exchange and keeps both vans up to date.

No. Handoff doesn't register you with the race. Register your team on the race's official site as well.

Planning is free: the roster, invites, leg assignments, logistics, projected times and finding runners or a team.

The Race Pass turns on live timing in the race-day app. It is one payment per team, per race. See What does the Race Pass include?

A team splits one long course, often around 200 miles, into legs. Each runner runs one leg at a time and hands off to the next runner at an exchange. The team finishes when the last runner crosses the line, and that is the team's time.

The classic road relay has 12 runners and 36 legs, so everyone runs three legs spread over a day and a night, often one of them in the dark. Races vary: some have fewer runners who run more, and some are shorter. Your race's page shows its format.

A leg is one runner's stretch of the course. Legs are different lengths and difficulties, from a short flat mile or two to a long hilly one.

An exchange is where one leg ends and the next begins. The runner finishing arrives, and the next runner, already waiting, starts. Some exchanges are the major ones where the vans swap. How do the vans work?

Most 12-runner teams split into two vans of six. The vans leapfrog: while one van runs its six legs, runner after runner, the other van rests, eats, sleeps if it can and drives ahead to meet them.

1. Van 1 runs legs 1 to 6 while Van 2 rests.
2. At the major exchange the vans swap, and Van 2 runs legs 7 to 12.
3. Van 1 rests, then runs legs 13 to 18, and so on to the finish.

See Which van am I in? for how Handoff works out your van.

It is the clock time from the team's start to the last runner finishing, so it includes every runner's running and nothing else. Because runners hand off as soon as the previous one arrives, there is no pause to add in. Teams start in waves, so the race gives your team a start time.

Before race day, Handoff projects it from each runner's pace. How are projected times worked out?

The idea is the same: legs, exchanges and a team time. The differences are size. An ultra team has fewer runners, so each runs more. A sprint or partial relay covers less of the course. Trail relays use trail legs, so a mile takes longer.

Your race's page and its runner handbook are the authority on distances, rules and team sizes.

You will be in a van for a day or two, so pack for that as well as for running. Your race will publish its own required gear, so check its handbook.

1. Running kit for each of your legs, plus spares, since you will be sweaty and may get rained on.
2. Layers for a cold night and something warm to wear between legs.
3. A headlamp, reflective vest and rear light if your race runs at night. Many require them.
4. Food and drink you like, because you will be hungry at odd hours.
5. Something to sleep on and a phone charger.

You are one runner on a team. Your captain decides which legs you run, and you run each of them once, then hand off to the next runner. Between your legs you ride in the van, cheer on your teammates and rest.

1. Join the team from the invite link. How do I join a team?
2. Add your 10K time to your profile so your projected legs are realistic.
3. Check the Legs tab to see which legs you run and which van you are in.
4. Answer any asks your captain sets, such as T-shirt size.

Be at the exchange before the previous runner is due, warmed up and ready. They will arrive and hand off, often by slapping a slap bracelet or tagging you, which starts your leg. When you finish, you hand off to the next runner at the next exchange.

Your team can time the handoffs in the race-day app, and it alerts you before your leg. Does every runner need the app?

Nothing breaks. The projection is a plan, and on race day the times update from real splits. Your van just arrives a little earlier or later than expected. If your pace is wrong beforehand, change it on the Time model tab.

The captain builds the team, decides who runs which legs and keeps logistics in one place so everyone shows up knowing where to be. On race day the captain, or someone they pick, usually times the team.

Creating a team in Handoff does not register you with the race. Register on the race's own site too. Details

1. Create the team from the race page. How?
2. Invite runners. How?
3. Assign legs, so each runner and van is set. How?
4. Add logistics: meet-up, lodging, vehicles and the team chat. Where?
5. Check the projected times and adjust any leg that looks off. How?

Short a runner? Post a request and find one. Finding runners

Planning on the web is free. The Race Pass, one payment per team per race, turns on live timing in the race-day app. What does it include?

Not everyone needs the app: one phone times the whole team. Get it installed and signed in the night before, while you have signal. How do I get the app?

Go to Races. Search by name, or pick a place and a distance to see relays near you. You can filter by month and format, or show only races where teams need runners or runners need a team.

Switch to the map to browse an area.

Yes. Send us the race name and website through the contact form, with the subject "Missing Race".

1. Open the race's page and choose Create team.
2. Name the team, and pick a division if the race has them.
3. Add your start time if you know it. You can add it later.
4. Tick "I'm also a runner" if you're running too.

You're the team's captain.

On your team page, choose Add runner and enter their name and email. Leave "Email them an invite" ticked and they get a link to join.

You can also share your invite code, shown on the team page. Tap it to copy it.

Yes. Add them with Add runner. You can assign them legs and answer asks for them. If they sign up later with the same email, they're matched to their spot on the roster.

Open the team menu and choose Change captain. Only runners who've joined with a Handoff account can become captain.

You can't undo this yourself. Only the new captain can hand it back.

To remove a runner, edit them on the team page and choose Remove from team.

To delete the team, open the team menu and choose Delete team. If you've bought a Race Pass, get it refunded first.

If you got an email invite, open the link and choose Join team.

If you have an invite code, go to Teams, choose Join with a code and enter it. Codes are case-sensitive.

Ask your captain to remove you. You can't leave a team yourself yet.

Once you've joined with a Handoff account, your details come from your profile, so only you can change them. Update them in Settings, under Profile.

1. Open your team's Legs tab.
2. Pick a runner, then tap the legs they run.
3. Use "Repeat every" to fill a rotation in one go. On a 36-leg relay with 12 runners, runner 1 runs legs 1, 13 and 25.
4. Save the plan.

Only the captain assigns legs. Everyone else sees who runs each leg.

Your van follows the legs you run. On a 12-runner relay with two vans of six, runners 1 to 6 ride in Van 1 and runners 7 to 12 in Van 2. On a 36-leg relay, you ride in the van for the set of legs you run.

The vans swap at the major exchanges, and the van that is off rests until its next turn.

One-day relays with six runners have everyone in the same van.

Captains: open the team menu and choose Edit logistics. There is room for vehicles, the race-day meet-up, lodging, snacks and anything else.

Add your team chat there too: a WhatsApp or Messenger group link, or a group text. For a group text, Handoff can copy everyone's phone numbers for you.

Everyone on the team can see logistics. Only the captain can edit them.

Each leg's time comes from the runner's 10K time, adjusted for how hard the leg is. A runner with no 10K time gets 10:00 per mile, marked "estimated". Add your 10K time to your profile to improve it.

The Time model tab shows the projected finish, when each leg starts, which legs run at night, and each van's shifts and rest.

On the Time model tab, edit a leg and enter a pace or a time. The other updates to match.

Runners can edit their own legs. Captains can edit any leg.

When the plan is settled, the captain can Freeze it so runners can no longer change it.

Asks are questions for the team and jobs someone needs to take. Your captain posts them on the Asks tab. There are two kinds:

1. Everyone answers, like T-shirt size or an emergency contact.
2. Someone claims it, like bringing the water. The first person to tap "I've got it" takes it.

Captains: choose Nudge on the ask to email everyone who hasn't answered. You can nudge once a day.

You can also answer for runners who haven't joined yet.

1. Open the race's page and choose I need a team.
2. Say a bit about yourself: your pace, where you're from and what you're looking for.
3. Choose whether to share your profile with captains, then post.

Captains can message you or invite you to their team, and you'll get an email.

You can also reply to teams listed under "Teams looking for runners" on the race page.

On your team page, choose Find a runner. Say how many runners you need and what they should know about your team. Your post shows on the race page, and replies come to you by email.

You can also message or invite runners listed under "Runners looking for a team" on the race page.

Requests show on the race page to anyone who visits. A captain only sees your profile if you choose to share it.

The Race Pass turns on race day in the Handoff app for everyone on your team:

1. Live timing at every exchange, synced across your vans
2. Projections that update from real splits
3. A countdown to the next exchange, and alerts before your leg
4. Rest windows for each van
5. A live page for family and friends to follow your team
6. Works offline, and syncs when you have signal again
7. A post-race recap with every split, ready to share as an image

Without it, the app shows your plan only.

Captains buy it from the team page. It is one payment per team, per race. The price depends on the length of the relay, and it is cheaper until 60 days before the race.

Yes, until your team's start time. Contact us and we'll refund it. Live timing in the app turns off once it's refunded.

Once your last exchange is recorded, the Handoff app turns the board into a recap: your total time and every leg against your plan.

1. Open the Handoff app after the finish
2. Tap Share recap
3. Pick where to share it, or save the image

The same recap is on your team page on the website, with a link to download the image. The recap needs times recorded in the app, so if nobody swiped the last exchange there is nothing to show yet.

Search for Handoff in the App Store or Google Play, and sign in with your Handoff account.

Open it before race day while you have signal, so your team's race data is on your phone. The app has its own help for race day.

No. One phone times the whole team, and it can hand timing to another phone with a code, even without signal. Everyone who has joined the team can use the app to follow along and get an alert before their leg.

Go to Settings, then Notifications, to choose which emails you get as a runner and as a captain.

You can't change your email address yourself yet. Contact us and we'll update it.

Open the account menu, choose Manage account, then Delete account. You confirm by typing DELETE, and it can’t be undone.

It removes your profile, login, team memberships and messages, and your email and phone on any roster. Race Passes and payment records, and the timing history of teams you were on, are kept.

If you captain a team whose race hasn’t finished, make another runner captain first. Stuck? Contact us.

Use the contact form or email support@handoff.run.