betweenloops.
Coming soon

The bell outranks the clock.

Betweenloops is race-day software for Backyard Ultra crews: everything the aid station runs between two bells, on one screen — from what the runner takes in, logged round by round, to the next shoe change.

Double opt-in. One email when it is ready, and nothing else.

Next bell--:--
Yard6.706 km
StartHourly
DriftSample race
Carbs63 g · target 60
Sodium505 mg · target 500
Fluid470 ml · target 600
The problem

The crew is awake as long as the runner.

A Backyard Ultra starts a fixed loop on a fixed interval. The runner comes back and rests whatever is left of the hour — a few minutes, and then the bell again. That gap is where the race is managed — food, fluid, shoes, lamps — and all of it has to happen before the bell.

Past the twenty-hour mark the handler at the aid station is sleep-deprived, cold, and working in the dark, with wet or gloved hands. Whatever lives on a damp sheet of paper or in someone's head is reconstructed afterwards, if it is recovered at all.

Nutrition

Built around the minutes between loops.

What the runner takes in, logged against a target for every round.

01

One tap, and undo

Quick-add books an item at quantity one. A toast offers the undo, and removing the youngest entry is a single gesture. Every write is reversible, because a mis-tap at 3 a.m. has to cost nothing.

02

Five channels, per-round targets

Carbs, sodium, fluid, protein, and caffeine, each with a target for the round. The current gap is what the screen shows first; the numeral changes state once the target is met.

03

Rounds are derived, never scheduled

The round number is computed from the event start and the round length, so there is no pre-generated schedule to drift out of sync. When the race leaves the grid, the bell sets the round start to now.

04

The drift across hours

A second surface plots every round against its targets. A fluid or sodium line that is quietly slipping shows up there long before the runner feels it, and dragging across the chart moves the whole view to that round.

Constraints

Designed for 3 a.m., and for the sun after it.

Darkness
The screen is the light source in a dark station, and eyes are dark-adapted. The theme is dark and does not switch.
Fatigue
Past twenty hours, cognitive load and error-proofing outrank information density.
Gloved hands
Rain, sweat, and cold fingers. Tap targets run to 144 px, and mis-taps are recoverable.
Direct sun
The same glossy iPad has to stay legible in daylight. Contrast is a functional requirement, not a preference.
Scope

One screen for the whole race day.

Everything a crew runs between two bells, in one place instead of on paper, in a group chat, and in someone's head. Built for the same 3 a.m., and for the same gloved hands.

Race day only: the hours between the first bell and the last, for the person at the aid station. Not a training platform, and not a social feed.

  1. Pacing
  2. Nutrition
  3. Reminders
  4. Shoe changes
  5. Gear & lamps
  6. Sleep

Hear about it when it is ready.

Leave an address and you get one email at launch. No newsletter, no schedule, nothing in between.