All the time in world to grow

Ask Paul Ryken what his job is and he jokes: "I'm a timekeeper."

But the title is apt since he has made it his business to provide the official times at sporting events here and in Australia.

Now his Penrose-based company, Global Timing Services, is in the running to provide timing services for Ironman Germany and Ironman Switzerland, having recently been asked to tender for the jobs.

The company provides an electronic timing system that automatically times each participant from starting line to finishing chute.

A lightweight (0.8 gram) transponder, coded to match a participant's race number, is attached to an ankle with a Velcro strap and is activated by electronic mats at the start and finish points. Times are accurate to one-tenth of a second, are available within seconds and can be published on the race website immediately.

Ryken works most weekends keeping up with New Zealand's busy race calendar.

Events include triathlons, multisport, skiing, regatta sports, life saving, running, rollerblading, soapbox derby, waka ama (Maori canoeing) and the Sky Tower Vertical Challenge.

He rates a 24-hour car-pushing competition at Botany Downs in Manukau City last year as one of the more bizarre events he has timed.

The work begins well before race day. Through its website, EnterOnLine.co.nz, the firm takes care of all pre-event contact with the participants, including registrations, merchandise orders and preparing race packs.

On the day, it sets up the official clocks and timing devices and manages them during the event.

Afterwards, official results are collated and analysed for the client and certificates mailed out to participants. The data is also used to match participants with their official photos taken along the course

Some of the more innovative ways the company has used the technology in recent years is to offer SMS results to Ironman spectators from 12 points along the course, informing them how far away a participant they are interested in is.

Ryken worked as a chef in the Army before he became a technology writer, creating software manuals and policy documents.

In the 1980s, he helped to organise a few races as a member of the Papakura Running Club. In those days, runners detached part of their race bib and handed it to a timekeeper as they ran through the chute. Their times were recorded on it.

Ryken formed the company 15 years ago under the name Pop Runner Promotions.

The first event he organised, in 1992 at 24, was the first marathon to cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

After two years, he took charge of the timing and the event remains the company's largest client, followed by the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge.

In 2001, Ryken bought the Australasian agency for Italian transponder timing system Winning Time. He hires the transponders out at $2.15 each, and at 65,000 each year, earnings an event range from $5000 to $70,000.

Ryken employs five fulltime staff and draws on a team of 10 contractors on race days.

Within the home market, the number of participation sporting events, particularly running series and off-road events, are increasing every year and there are still plenty to target with the services.

The transponders bring precision to events and require fewer volunteers.

Another advantage is that participants don't have to start at the same time because timing starts when the athlete crosses the electronic start mats, not when the gun fires.

Ryken said it was the creative ways Global Timing was using the transponders that had captured the attention of Ironman organisers.

He hopes more opportunities will open up for international events and has his eye on the contract for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, which comes up for renewal in 2007.

In the meantime, he is working to "let them know we exist" and making sure his company's services remain cutting edge.

Forming the company Global Timing Services last year as a parent company for Timing New Zealand and Timing Australia is part of a plan to position the company to operate internationally.

Ryken is the major shareholder, with a 47 per cent stake. Winning Time also has a large holding.

The former runner sometimes feels nostalgic on the sidelines of so many sporting events but is not desperate to get back in the field.

For now, he is content with the satisfaction that comes with providing an official time to a first-time competitor who crosses the finish line to cheering family and friends.