How Bib2Bib verifies race data
Bib2Bib does not publish a race just because it turned up somewhere online. Every listing keeps its source, gets one of three verification levels, and only becomes indexable in search engines once it meets specific, code-enforced conditions. Here is exactly what those conditions are.
How a race gets into the catalog
Bib2Bib's public "Sources & coverage" page describes the method in four steps: discover, resolve, verify, refresh. A race is discovered through a federation calendar, an organiser's own calendar, or a specialist directory; possible duplicates are checked manually with an exact name-and-date match; critical fields are verified against the most official source available; and the listing is rechecked on a schedule.
There is no single national database covering every endurance sport in Greece, so Bib2Bib stitches together individual snapshots from different sources instead of claiming one unified "official" feed. The page states this plainly: finding a race somewhere online does not, by itself, get called "confirmed".
The three verification levels
Every catalog listing carries exactly one of three levels: "Listed in a checked source" (source-confirmed), "Event page found" (organizer-link-present), and "Needs confirmation" (discovery-lead). These are not marketing labels — they are a single field value (verification) that directly controls what a visitor sees and whether the race page is indexable at all.
When a listing comes specifically from an official calendar (sourceTier "official-calendar") and already carries source-confirmed, Bib2Bib shows an even more specific line: "Listed in an official source". That wording is deliberately stronger than the generic "Listed in a checked source", precisely because the source itself is more authoritative.
What kind of source sits behind each listing
Beyond the verification level, every listing also carries a source tier: official-calendar for an organiser or municipality's own calendar, federation-snapshot for an official federation calendar (cycling, for example), specialist-directory for a dedicated race-listing site, and local-publisher for local media coverage. The source tier does not replace the verification level — it works alongside it, showing where the information actually comes from.
That is a separate question from whether a domain has passed a full legal/licensing review for data access, which Bib2Bib tracks internally, per domain, separately from the accuracy of any individual listing.
What "last checked" means, and when it goes stale
Every listing keeps a last-checked date (checkedAt). If the race is upcoming and more than 60 days have passed since that check, the listing is flagged "stale" and shows a recheck notice instead of a plain "checked X days ago" line.
Separately, listings with an active organiser link go through a scheduled recheck sequence: 90, 30, 7 and 1 day before the race. The most urgent open checkpoint determines how overdue a recheck is considered; a single fresh check automatically clears every wider checkpoint that has already passed.
Why some races are not indexed yet
The indexability rule lives in exactly one place in the code (lib/race-indexability.ts), specifically so the race page and the sitemap can never disagree with each other. A listing at the discovery-lead level is never indexable, whatever else is true about it. A listing with a real organiser link becomes indexable. There is exactly one further exception: a listing sourced solely from an official federation calendar (federation-snapshot) can become indexable without its own organiser link, but only if it has been rechecked against that calendar on or after 29 September 2026.
A source conflict is not a separate, coded indexability branch in lib/race-indexability.ts — it affects the outcome indirectly, through the verification level. As long as a listing stays at discovery-lead because two sources openly disagree and neither has explicitly superseded the other, it stays noindex under the same rule described above, not under a separate "sources disagree" rule. Such conflicts are surfaced publicly with a dedicated notice on the listing, so a visitor can see why a date or other detail remains in dispute, until an official clarification is published.
An organiser link does not mean "partnership"
A listing carrying a link to an organiser's site does not mean that organiser is an official partner, an authorised representative, or that they approved the content. Even when an email domain matches a catalog source's domain, that match counts only as evidence worth further review — it never automatically grants organiser status. Free public mailbox domains (Gmail, Outlook, and similar) are explicitly excluded from that check, precisely because they prove nothing about domain ownership.
The "For organizers" page states this directly: a public source or a domain match is only evidence to be checked, not authority or partnership status. Ranking, verification and corrections stay independent of any future commercial relationship.
How an organiser can claim or correct a listing today
In plain terms: not through a live form. Every race's /claim page exists, but it states outright that "organizer claims are not active yet" and that nothing on that page grants authority or the right to make changes. The technical picture matches: the claim-submission endpoint returns a fixed "closed" response for every request, in both languages. The "For organizers" page confirms there is currently no form, DM channel, waiting list, or active submission channel.
What already holds as a stated principle, for whenever that process opens: corrections would be evaluated on documentation and how critical the fix is — never on payment. The public sources page is even more specific: a change is activated only with an event-specific source, an assigned reviewer, and full provenance, not a bare report. In the same spirit, public community submissions stay closed until reporting, moderation, an appeals process and verified organiser authority are operational — deliberately, so that an error channel does not open before there is a way to actually fix the errors it would collect.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Needs confirmation" mean?
It means the listing carries the discovery-lead verification level — it was found as a likely race, but has not yet been confirmed against a checked source. A listing at that level is never indexable in search engines.
Why does a race that is in the catalog not show up on Google?
Because it does not meet the indexability rule: either it carries the discovery-lead level (for example because two sources disagree and no official clarification exists yet), or it lacks an organiser link and does not come from a recently rechecked federation calendar.
Does an organiser link mean there is a partnership with Bib2Bib?
No. It is only the link to the source used for verification. Even a matching email domain does not, by itself, grant organiser status or partnership — that requires a separate, recorded review.
How often is a listing rechecked?
Listings with an organiser link have scheduled checkpoints at 90, 30, 7 and 1 day before the race. Separately, any upcoming race not checked in over 60 days is flagged as "stale".
Can I submit a correction or claim my race today?
Not through a live channel. The claim page and the "For organizers" page both state directly that the process is not active yet and that no form, DM channel, or waiting list exists today.
How will corrections be evaluated once the process opens?
On documentation and how critical the fix is, never on payment — and only once there is an event-specific source, an assigned reviewer, and full provenance for that specific change.
