IT is a revolutionary way ahead for road races and triathlons in Bermuda ¿ a new technology that involves athletes strapping on a Velcro band with an attached computer chip to one of their ankles.

And as a further spin-off it has heralded the arrival of mass online internet race entries to the island.

Every runner who took part in last weekend's Fairmont to Fairmont road race wore one of the straps.

It was the first time the popular annual event had used the technology, but it joined a select few races in Bermuda that have tried out the new way of recording competitors' times as they cross the finish line.

During the final months of last year the strap-on race chips were tested in events ranging from the Bank of Bermuda Triathlon, to the PartnerRe 5K and Bacardi 8K.

The response and results have been positive, and Stephen DeSilva who personally invested in the new system, has been able to give race organisers a results service that is faster and more accurate than ever before.

DeSilva spent thousands of his own dollars to bring the Australian-developed system to the island. He and his wife Christine have long been familiar faces at races in Bermuda as they take care of results.

But that no longer involves gathering stopwatch printout times and race number spotting. Now it is all done by having runners pick up a Velcro strap at the start of the race and placing it around one of their ankles. The strap has attached a race chip ¿ a computer chip with a mini transmitter.

When the runner crosses a magnetic mat at the finish line, the magnetic field switches on the chip's transmitter for a moment and that is picked up by a race results recording box nearby which feeds the information directly to DeSilva's computer.

Every runner's time and position is instantly and accurately recorded, allowing prizes to be awarded without delay.

Because the chips are attached to Velcro straps they are easily taken off at the end of the finish funnel and collected ¿ much easier than the more widely used championship chips that are attached to runners' shoe laces, which must be undone to retrieve the chip afterwards.

In the next two months the Butterfield and Vallis 5K and the Eye Clinic 5K will both use the strap-on chips.

DeSilva, of Mid-Atlantic Athletic Club, has been timing races for the best part of the last 20 years using the old fashioned "number spots and times" method.

He said: "Everyone talked about getting a new system, the race organisers, the triathlon people ¿ they talked about finding a sponsor. But it eventually became obvious that people were just going to keep talking about it."

Last April, he and his wife were on holiday in Mexico when DeSilva announced he was going to buy the chip system with his own money and bring it back to Bermuda.

By the end of the summer he had done that and underwent training before putting the new technology into action.

Race timing is something that DeSilva and his wife have been doing as a hobby. With the new system they are targeting "quality events" where organisers are prepared to sign a contract to have the chips used as the race recording method and to have online registration.

The online registration again cuts back on administration and the chances of any mistakes being made in an entrant's name or details. It also allows an after-race email to be sent out automatically to tell a competitor their race time and position.

The most obviously unusual feature for runners is the Velcro strap that attaches to an ankle, rather than a chip that is threaded through a shoe lace.

"It was really built for triathlons where you do a swim and have no way of attaching a computer chip to a shoe lace," said DeSilva.

"The strap is a lot easier to take off and the chips each have a number that corresponds with the athlete's race number so it is easy for them to find theirs on the rack before the start of the race."

Race organisers have to pay extra for the service, but the added smoothness of the results operation and much of the race entry administration is the direct benefit.

DeSilva hopes more races will come on board with the system. He is already lined up to provide the service. After the Butterfield and Eye Clinic races, the Lindos-to-Lindos 10K will be next to use the strap-on chips.

And for DeSilva there is the added plus of having a hobby that allows his family to get involved. Wife Christine has been part of the race results set up for a long time, but now his children are also part of the team that work from early morning on race day setting up, and keep working until all the chips are collected back in and the results are presented and posted on the internet.