DNF or DNS: how to mark it and what happens

What the Hub tracks

Every Race has a race_status field. After the race, it gets one of these values:

• Completed: finished the race.
• DNF Swim: did not finish, abandoned during the swim.
• DNF Bike: did not finish, abandoned during the bike.
• DNF Run: did not finish, abandoned during the run.
• DNS: did not start (registered but did not show up).
• DQ: disqualified.

The status can only be set on a race whose date has passed. The model blocks setting any of these on a future race.

How to mark a DNF

1. Open the race detail page after the race date.
2. Edit the race.
3. Set race_status to the appropriate value (dnf_swim, dnf_bike, dnf_run).
4. Save.

How to mark a DNS

Same flow, set status to dns. Use DNS when the athlete registered but did not start: travel disruption, illness discovered race morning, schedule change. DNS is not a failure to log; it is a real outcome the macrocycle planner should know about so it stops anchoring the season to a race that did not happen.

What still gets logged

After a DNF or DNS:

• The race record stays. It is not deleted.
• The race recap form remains available; the athlete can still file a recap describing what happened and why. See Filing a race recap.
• Any race FIT file that was captured is still uploadable as an Activity (e.g. the swim and bike portions of a run-DNF race are valuable training data).
• The race recap "what went wrong" section is the place to capture the cause.

What does NOT happen automatically

• The Hub does not auto-cascade a DNF into a macrocycle re-plan. You decide whether to push subsequent A races back, change priorities, or hold the plan steady.
• The Hub does not auto-notify anyone. If the athlete wants the coach to see the recap urgently, they message separately.

Race week DNF risk markers

Common patterns that predict DNF risk:

• Heat over 30C for a 70.3 or 140.6 in an athlete who has not acclimated.
• Cumulative fatigue spike in wellness during taper week (see Logging daily wellness).
• Sub-30 percent confidence in the readiness checklist.

The Hub does not auto-stop the race; the call belongs to the athlete and coach.

After a DNF or DNS

Plan the recovery the same way:

• 3 to 5 days easy regardless of the cause.
• Wellness logging back on if it lapsed in race week.
• Recap filed.
• Coach debrief on cause and adjustments for the next race.

See also: Filing a race recap, Race readiness checklist, Race planning workflow.