How long have I been around?
I’ve pole vaulted on bamboo poles into a sawdust pit. I’ve had to wind stop watches so they are ready to time to tenths of a second. I have kept top 10 lists on paper using a pencil. I typed up the first Viking Track Classic program on a old style typewriter with a correction ribbon.
Get the picture.
Not that I don’t try and stay up on all the current gadgets out there but I have found out timing systems have advanced far beyond what I knew of. Thanks to Eli Rosen-Duran.
Eli ran for Sonoma Academy and was the 2015 Coastal Mountain Conference 3200 meter champion and owned the CMC’s best time for that year at 10:03.67.
He continued his running career at the University of San Diego.
These days he is a Track and Field Event Manager for TrackTown USA, Inc., working in event production for large scale track and field meets.
Eli wrote me.
“Wanted to start off by saying I’ve been a big fan of your sites for as long as I’ve been running. While only 12 years in the scheme of things, your site helped me build my love for the whole background history and statistics of the sport.
That being said, my current full time job is working in event production for large scale track and field meets. The technological nerd in me wants to share some information on how all the splits were taken at NB Nationals.
Starting off, the only cameras at the meet was the finish line cameras. The timing company involved, Prime Time Timing, is one of the most advanced timing companies in the industry. They have a technology they call ATLAS that they developed. https://pttiming.com/services-atlas.php The technology is based around hardware made by isolynx https://isolynx.finishlynx.com/ . Each athlete wears an active chip attached to their bib that is triangulated by antennas placed around the track. This tech provides highly accurate and fast location data when placed on a track overlay, can calculate crazy data. For example, it can give 10m splits for sprints, 4×100 splits from in lane exchange zones, time between hurdles for laned races, and many more. I can dig some links up if you like
Prime Time’s tech is used at Milrose, USA Outdoor, and the 2022 World Championship.
The small boxes inside the track are cold spark machines used in athlete intros.”
My thanks to Eli for the update.
Here is the story updated.
Update on “A Look At Thompsen’s Record Time”
