PikRunning & sports· Usage example
Running Events: How Can You Find Photos When Your Bib Is Hidden?
An example workflow for runners looking for side views and group shots. See how selfie search, match confirmation, and browsing by capture time work together.
This article illustrates how current PikFind features could be used at an event. It does not describe a specific customer deployment or measured results.
Your bib is clearly visible in a finish-line photo, but your arm covers the number in a smiling shot at the water station. A side view with a friend you ran alongside is easy to miss, too. These are the gaps that appear when you search event photos only by bib number.
This article is an example of applying PikFind’s current features to a running event. Starting with a scene a participant remembers, it follows the steps they could take to find their own photos.
What runners remember may differ from how photos are organized
Runners may remember roughly when they passed a water station and who they were running with. They are less likely to know a photo’s file number or the photographer’s name. If organizers search for and send files to each participant, they have to collect similar descriptions over and over.
If bib-number search is enabled for the event in PikFind, participants can start with their race number. They can then use selfie search for shots where the bib is hidden. A photo with a recognizable face may appear as a possible match even when the number is not visible. Photos may still be difficult to find if the face is obscured or appears too small.
Use your face to begin searching from the event link
The organizer uploads the photographers’ images to the same event and shares its QR code or link. Runners search on that event page using a selfie with a clear view of their face. The link can be included in both pre-race announcements and follow-up information.
In the results, start with photos identified as matches for you. If your selfie includes several people, choose the face to search for. The face search is limited to this event; it does not compare photos from other events at the same time.
Look further for side views by confirming matches and adding a selfie
If you recognize yourself in a possible match that needs checking, you can confirm it with “That’s me.” PikFind uses the confirmed face to look for additional photos. You can also add a selfie taken from another angle or under different lighting.
Additional searches keep the results you have already found while looking for more photos. Before concluding that a photo does not exist because it was missing from the first search, you can try again with another image where your face is clearly visible.
Use the time you remember to fill gaps in the search
If the event allows browsing all photos, you can use capture time and folders. For example, if you remember when you passed a water station, start with photos from that time window. The time filter is useful when photos contain recorded capture times.
Before uploading, organizers should synchronize the cameras’ clocks and organize folders by course section or session. Telling participants to “try time and folders if search does not find your photo” also gives them a clear next step.