Silence and conscious contact with nature to compete better.
Far from crowded races, in silence, with conscious contact and absolute respect for nature, OTR is the option and complement to outdoor races as we know them until now. With OTR you can compete in real courses whenever you want. We provide the necessary technology, you the heart and muscles.
Qualify
Open Trail Races is the race timing system that autonomously generates automatic rankings as you pass each checkpoint.
Our exhaustive validation system ensures that there have been no cuts in the route and that the entire route has been fully completed. It is a hybrid validation system between artificial and human intelligence.
Racing 365 x 24
Are you looking for races that you can compete any day and time?
With our app and verified routes you can compete at any time. Download the APP, go to the starting point, press START and GO!
Characteristics of use:
Compete together with whoever you want and whenever you want. OTR races do not have a time or date unless it is a challenge or championship on specific dates.
OTR is a free APP and competing in any of its races is also for free.
Some races may require additional registration payment because the organizers are bringing a runner bag or a souvenir, or because they are rasing of funds for a good cause.
With the premise of not damaging sensitive spaces, all the races contained in OTR have the necessary environmental permits.
The local institutions responsible for the routes guarantee that they are always free of vegetation that could impede passage.
There are many routes in the territory but if there is not one near where you live and you would like it to be, you can write us an email to info@opentrailraces.com indicating which route or race you would like us to incorporate and we will take the necessary steps to incorporate it.
Racing with OTR is a great way to get quality training on real races:
- Study the race.
- Define your strategy and check your result.
- Compete against you and against those who have participated before.
- Repeat the race as many times as you want.
In a group or separately. With with bet or without it. In the end, competing will always be fun and a great way to learn the course of the race as well as a good training.
Being non-massive races you will be able to enjoy much more of the peace of the places without hardly disturbing their surroundings and carry out the routes in harmony with nature.
OTR races are in full self-sufficiency and GPS tracking. You must provide yourself with everything you need to be able to carry out the race with total safety and autonomy.
Some races, in collaboration with local companies, will present you at the end of the race with a promotion or discount code that you will receive in the notifications section of the APP. Also in some cases when there are raffles.
Technical characteristics:
Open Trail Races are GPS-tracked, so the route may not be marked. In that case you must have a GPS device to follow the route of the race comfortably or you can also follow the route in the map provided into the app.
If while participating in an OTR you have mobile data active, your activity can be followed on the web, seeing your position updated every 2 minutes on the map. This is definitely a security tool. Whoever wants to follow you simply has to enter the LIVE section of our website opentrailraces.com. Easy, right?
You can also use it the day you’re going to beat someone you know, so they can watch it live 😝.
Our validation system is hybrid because on the one hand we validate the participations with our artificial intelligence system, but if something “squeaks” then we validate manually.
Once we receive the data of your participation, it will be examined taking into account:
- that you have not left the track (do not cut)
- your speeds are normal
- and that the distance traveled is that of the race.
If everything is correct, you will automatically be in the classification and you will receive your diploma by email. Otherwise, we will contact you by email within 24 hours of your participation, perhaps requesting your collaboration, perhaps telling you the reason for your non-classification.
Some races incorporate checkpoints along the way. These will serve so that you can compare your pace times with your rivals.
During the race, your classification will be updated as you pass each checkpoint and you will be able to see (if you want to waste a few seconds looking at the screen):
- your position in the general classification and category
- your partial time and the difference between the first of the general
- classification and the first of your category
The sum of the times of the different races make up a championship. You can compete as many times as you want in each race to improve your total time.
Stage races (or traverses) work the same way, with the times of the stages being added together. In this case, the OTR system replaces the traditional seal or drill system in each shelter, but without schedules or inconvenience outside of hours for the shelters.
When you have completed all the races or stages you will receive in your email the certificate accrediting your participation with all the times and classification.
Once your participation has been correctly validated, and as a reminder, you will receive a personalized “finisher” diploma in your email, certifying your registration.
In the “activity” section of the APP, you will find a screen to easily share your result on social media.
ESSENTIAL usage tips for proper OTR operation:
Keep in mind that for a correct record of your race you should not turn off Bluetooth or GPS location at any time, therefore do not activate flight mode. In addition, depending on your mobile, you must make sure that the app has no restrictions in the battery optimization options, or location, or use of bluetooth, give it the maximum permissions to avoid malfunctions.
During the race you can turn off data connection. The APP only needs the location and bluetooth.
At the time of participating try to have the battery fully charged. If you are also going to take more than 4 hours to reach the finish line, connect an external battery to your mobile.
Remember that the mobile is a security element in the mountains and therefore you must always make sure you have enough battery.
The APP will not allow you to participate if you do not have at least 50% battery.
Once our APP has been downloaded to your smartphone and your user registration has been activated, download the track (GPX file) from our APP and then upload it to the GPS device with which you will follow the route. If you don’t know how to do it or you don’t have a GPS device, follow these simple steps.
If you don’t have a GPS device you can easilly follow the route in the APP.
For safety, before leaving, study the route on a map and look for the different scapes to be covered in the case of something goes wrong. Make sure you have provided everything you need to be able to complete the race route in total autonomy and safety. Your safety depends exclusively on you, if you do not have accident insurance we recommend that you take one out.
If you are going to use a route tracking/recording APP simultaneously with OTR, especially open and start this other APP first and then open and start the timer with OTR. Please, always in this order and never the other way around.
Before going to the starting point, open the race in which you are going to participate and press the “register” button. In this way the race data will be saved on your phone for 24 hours. So, if there is no data coverage at the starting point, you will not have any problem to participate.
Normally at the starting point you will find a sign, but if there is not one, let yourself be guided by the app. The timer will never start if you are not within a 25 meter perimeter of the starting point.
Record the race simultaneously with your GPS device. So if for some reason your smartphone fails, we will have something to validate your participation. Keep this in mind if your phone is already a few years old.
Hit the START button and only when the timer starts… GO!
Keep your mobile, preferably in an external pocket. If you put it inside a backpack along with other things, it may not record your participation well and also consume more battery power than necessary.
Do not get off the track if you want to qualify. If you get lost at some point and have to retrace your steps, don’t worry that won’t get you unqualified, but don’t cut back to fix it.
The race will end once you reach the finish point (better if you stop right there) and hear or see “Finisher!” onscreen. If the stopwatch does not stop automatically, press the STOP button.
To scratch a few seconds, we recommend you reach the finish line with your mobile in your hand and the screen unlocked.
The stop button also allows you to abandon the race at any time, although if you do it outside the finish line you will not appear in the classification and we will ask you the reason for your abandonment. Additionally, we will send you an email confirming your abandonment.
Once your race is over, and before closing the app, activate the data connection if you had turned it off, so the data of your participation will be uploaded to our server and will be examined. We will take into account:
- that you have not left the track (do not cut)
- your speeds are normal
- and that the distance traveled is that of the race.
If everything is correct, you will automatically be in the classification. Otherwise, we will contact you by email within 24 hours of your participation, perhaps requesting your collaboration, perhaps telling you the reason for your non-classification.
Creators note:
OTR – OPEN TRAIL RACES was born from the initiative of two crazy about trail running who came up with the idea of creating an APP that allows races to be competed at any time, in total freedom, and in perfect harmony with nature. During the long training sessions they give flight to their ideas and OPEN TRAIL RACES ends up appearing, the result of a huge personal and collective effort at all levels.
We just want our APP makes you enjoy as much as to us.
Jesús and Joan, summer 2016.