Sports Timer Hire
A digital LED race clock — sometimes called a race timer or countdown clock — that mounts onto a start or finish gantry and displays countdown or elapsed time in large LED digits. We run it alongside our trussing and inflatable gantries to build up a proper start and finish line, and our crew operates it on the day so your event team can focus on the participants rather than the timing display.
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Start gantry at the Prostate Cancer UK March for Men — our sports timer mounts above or alongside gantries like this one
Finish gantry at an Alzheimer's Society Memory Walk, where our crew handles the timing display and event infrastructure
Participants at an Alzheimer's Society Memory Walk — the timer keeps walkers and spectators informed at the start and finish
The LED race clock we supply is a straightforward piece of kit: a digital display in a weather-resistant housing that shows either a countdown or the elapsed time since the start of the event. It hangs from a start or finish gantry, or it can sit on a stand next to the start arch if that works better for the venue.
We have been supplying them for years as part of the event infrastructure for mass participation walks and runs — the Alzheimer's Society Memory Walk and the Prostate Cancer UK March for Men are two of the long-running charity events where we handle the start and finish gantries and the timing display as part of the full production package. Both of those events run across multiple locations nationwide, with around 110,000 walkers across the Memory Walk programme alone.
Rachael Thomas hired a branded gantry from us for a sponsored walk for the Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity, and said afterwards: "easy to book, arrived on time, set up efficiently and collected everything as soon as the event finished. This helped make the event run very smoothly."
We own and run the timer ourselves — it is not something we subcontract out to a third-party timing company. That means the same crew who set up the gantry also set up and operate the timer, and if something needs sorting on the day there is no separate supplier to chase. Most hires go out as part of a wider production package with a stage, PA, gantry and barriers, which is how we work for the charity walks we have been doing for years. But we can also supply the timer on its own if you already have the rest of your event infrastructure in hand.
All hires include delivery, setup and collection by our crew from our 25,000 sq ft warehouse in Rotherham, just off the M1 and M18. We deliver across the UK, including to venues like NEC Birmingham, Manchester Central, ExCel London and Telford Exhibition Centre, and we cover Sheffield, Leeds, Doncaster and Barnsley with short-notice availability. Risk assessments and method statements come with every hire, and we carry £5 million public liability insurance as standard.
Pairing with Gantries and Event Infrastructure
A sports timer on its own is only half the setup for a start or finish line. We supply a range of trussing gantries and inflatable gantries that the timer mounts onto, and the whole thing goes up as one package — our crew brings the gantry, the timer, the crowd barriers and the PA system for the start-line announcements, and they run it all on the day.
If the timer needs power and there is no mains supply within reach, we can run it from one of our battery generators or diesel generators, depending on what else is drawing power at the start and finish area.
Tell us about your event — the venue, the expected number of participants, and what other infrastructure you need alongside the timer — and we will put a quote together. If you are not sure what you need, we can do a site visit first.
Bede House, Salisbury Road, Maltby, Rotherham, South Yorkshire S66 8JP
Staging Events Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales. Company number 09021340. Registered office: Bede House, Salisbury Road, Maltby, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S66 8JP.