The alternative to MultiSport Australia timing
Self-deployable Barefoot Lite for remote events, reusable tags, live tracking and registration built in, without paying for a crew to travel.
Recognised bodies the technology has supported
The honest comparison
Barefoot Sport vs MultiSport Australia · built only from what MSA publishes
Sports timing specialists since 1995. Marathons, triathlons, fun runs, ocean swims and trail races.
Registration and timing on one system. Entries, payments, chip timing, live results and race-day support.
No registration.
Included, on the same system as the timing, so entries flow to the start line without an export.
Not listed in their published offer.
Reusable tags and live tracking, deployed by you where a crew does not fit.
Results and athlete tracking app with splits, live course position and predicted finish times.
Live results and tracking, published as participants finish.
Over 400 events a year, and they describe themselves as the largest timing company in Australia.
450+ events a year across Australia and New Zealand.
Over 15 countries under the SportSplits brand, with offices including New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Ireland and South Africa.
Australia and New Zealand, owned and operated in both.
Founded 1995. Brought the first disposable UHF chip to the Australian market at the Melbourne Marathon in 2008.
A crew with more than 75 years of combined event experience.
A global support organisation.
A local team, in your time zone, on race morning.
MultiSport Australia information as published at multisportaustralia.com.au, September 2026.
MultiSport Australia is an established timing contractor, but it relies on crew-dependent, disposable-tag RFID, which is expensive and impractical for remote or multi-checkpoint events. Barefoot gives you self-deployable Barefoot Lite with reusable tags and live tracking, plus registration in the same system.
Built by event organisers.
Trusted by race directors.
450+
Events delivered every year across Australia and New Zealand
50,000
Participants supported at a single event
75+
years
Combined event experience
2
countries
Australian and New Zealand owned, operated and on the ground
Why organisers switch
Supporting 450+ events every year — from local races to events with 50,000 participants
Timing contractors like MultiSport Australia depend on staff-heavy, disposable-tag setups. For a metro road race that’s fine, but for a remote trail or ultra it means paying for crew travel, flights, vehicles and accommodation, often more than the timing itself, and disposable chips pile up as cost and waste every event. And because a timing contractor doesn’t do your registration, you’re still running two vendors with data that doesn’t line up. Barefoot Lite removes the crew for the events that need it most, uses reusable tags, and puts registration and timing on one system.
Why organisers choose
Barefoot over a timing contractor
Barefoot Lite is self-deployable, so remote events skip the crew travel bill entirely.
Reusable tags cut the cost and waste of disposable chips, event after event.
Registration and timing in one system, where a contractor leaves registration to someone else.
Live tracking and last-known-checkpoint visibility on remote courses, for safety and experience.
Who it’s for?
Trail, ultra and remote-event organisers paying for crew travel.
Organisers using a separate timing contractor and a separate registration platform.
Anyone wanting reusable-tag, self-service timing.
Features
Self-deploy, no crew bill
Barefoot Lite times remote courses yourself, without flights, vehicles and accommodation. See Barefoot Lite.
Reusable, not disposable
Reusable tags cut cost and single-use waste that add up every event.
Registration built in
One system for entries and timing, not two vendors with mismatched data.
Safety-grade tracking
Last-known-checkpoint visibility on remote courses, for safety as well as spectators.
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Your Event?
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still pay for a crew to travel?
Not with Barefoot Lite. You self-deploy timing, so remote events skip the crew travel cost.
Are the tags reusable?
Yes. Barefoot Lite uses reusable tags, cutting the cost and waste of disposable chips.
Does Barefoot do registration too?
Yes. Registration and timing are one system, unlike a timing-only contractor.
How much does race timing cost?
Race timing is usually priced as a minimum event fee plus a per-participant rate, so a 200-person fun run and a 2,000-person half marathon aren’t quoted the same way. Three things move the number most: how many timing points the course needs, whether tags are disposable or reusable, and how far a crew has to travel to reach the start line. Remote events carry flights and accommodation on top of the timing itself.
Is my event too small for chip timing?
Not necessarily, but under about 100 participants it often isn’t worth it. Most timing providers set a minimum charge that covers the first hundred or so entrants, which means a 40-person club run pays close to what a 100-person one pays. Below that, manual or app-based timing with volunteers is usually enough. Chip timing earns its cost once fields grow, waves start separately or you need splits and category results.
What happens if the timing equipment fails on race day?
A properly run timing setup has a backup in place before it’s needed: a second reader or antenna at the finish, video capture of the finish line and a manual bib-and-stopwatch record held by volunteers. Ask any provider what their backup is and who will be on site to use it. Events happen once, so the answer to “what’s plan B” matters more than the specification of plan A.
Do registration and timing have to come from the same provider?
No, but running them separately creates work. When entries sit in one system and timing in another, the start list has to be exported and imported by hand, and that export is a snapshot rather than a live sync — so every late change has to be moved across again. That’s where most race-day results errors begin. One platform for both removes the hand-off and leaves one team accountable when something breaks.
Can I keep entries open until race day?
That depends on whether registration and timing sit on the same platform. Where they’re separate systems, organisers are usually asked to close online entries a few days out so the final start list can be handed to the timing company. On an integrated platform, entries can stay open to race morning because the data flows straight through. For a small event, an early cut-off has a real revenue cost.
Let’s make your next event your easiest yet.
Work with people who get the pace, pressure, and precision of endurance events and build platforms that match it.