As more than a 1,300 athletes compete in the Bermuda Marathon Weekend’s three days of events, which start tomorrow, there will be another team of individuals working away behind the scenes to ensure every competitor’s finishing position and time is accurately recorded.

Bermuda Timing Systems has grown from small beginnings eight years ago to become the most recognised — and arguably most in-demand — event-timing organisations on the Island.

Founders Stephen and Christine De Silva say they do not run the operation to earn a living, although the team that works with them do get paid for the time and energy they put in on an almost weekly basis.

“For me it is a hobby, and we don’t make a cent out of it. My goals are different from the others [similar race-timing operators overseas] who make a living out of it,” said Mr De Silva.

The De Silvas have been involved in timing races for approximately 20 years. For much of that time it was a case of using stopwatches and writing down bib numbers as athletes crossed the finish line.

“Before an event you’d call up people to see who had a megaphone, or a race clock. You’d be searching to find these things,” explained Mr De Silva.

However, things changed eight years ago when the couple decided that if they were going to do race timing properly they had to invest in microchip technology.

Linking up with Al Harding, of Florida-based company Accuchip Timing, the De Silvas brought the first chip-timing system to the Island. Athletes strapped on ankle straps fitted with a microchip that corresponded to their bib number. A magnetic mat and electronic control boxes on the finish line would register the chip crossing the finish line and send the information to a computer, which would record the athlete’s race position and finishing time.

The system allowed results from running races, cycling events and triathlons to be printed immediately and be posted online.

With technology rapidly evolving, Bermuda Timing Systems has upgraded a number of times in the past few years and now use disposable chips in running races, which are affixed to the back of race bib numbers, while advanced versions of the strap-on chips are used for cycling and swimming events and triathlons.

Results now appear in real-time on the Bermuda Timing System website and via a smartphone app.

The equipment being used doesn’t come cheap. The business charges $5 per chip for event organisers and also operates a minimum charge policy of between $300 and $1,500 depending on the type of event. The charges are absorbed into the event entry fees.

Mr De Silva explained: “We have to have a minimum charge to pay for people showing up. Christine and I do not take any of the money, it goes to the people who do the work for us.

“We also use it to build up our equipment. The modus operandi was to create a better environment [for sports events] and make it a sustainable business.

“To do that we needed people to help out and create better quality events.”