Funny how the simplest interaction can lead to the grandest undertaking. So it was for Terry Hearst and Erik Pedersen, two Ventura County residents linked together way back when by a common interest.
They both had children competing for the Simi Valley Running Rebels, a youth track organization for pre-high school kids ages 6 through 15.
These were the early 1990s, and the process of recording race entrants, charting the placements and collecting and disseminating the final data seemed like the Dark Ages.
"It was difficult just to get everybody entered into the races," says Hearst, "After that, it was a matter of figuring out who won or how your child did. It seemed to take forever just to get the results.
"Erik and I would talk about that all the time. We said there had to be a better way."
Complaining about the system is nothing new for parents involved in sports. But Pedersen and Hearst were spurred to act.
"Everybody is unhappy, but nobody knows what to do about it," Hearst said, "Nobody had any solutions."
Fast forward all these years later and welcome to the future.
The joint venture envisioned, masterminded, created and fine-tuned by Hearst and Pedersen is in operation for 66 dates in 2011, at sites throughout Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, and has changed the way that track and field and cross country meets are administrated.
It's not far-fetched to say it's changed the way the sports are appreciated, too.
The official company name is Royal Results — so named because the progenies of Pedersen and Hearst went on to star for the Royal High cross country and track and field programs — and is part business, part hobby and wholly a brainchild to fruition concept that altered how running sports are managed.
Faster, quicker, better? It's not just the athletes who have improved over the past 20 years.
Utilizing state of the art technology in hi-tech cameras, timing devices and sports software, Royal Results has helped usher in a new era for high school, college and community track and field and cross country events staged throughout Southern California by significantly shortening the time to complete a meet and notably streamlining the results process.
Track and field competitions that once took as many as five hours to complete are now over in 2-to 3-hours. Results that once required at least a day to complete are now available instantaneously. Royal Results posts results during most competitions live on its website.
"One of the things we're most proud of is that we've made these meets more enjoyable to attend," said Pedersen. "You don't have invest nearly as much time as in years past to attend a meet. And it's no longer a mystery to figure out what's going on. Results, are posted, immediately after each race, for everybody to see."
Since every athlete's time is instantly recorded when he or she crosses the finish line, the benefits extend to each race participant, Pedersen noted.
"There once was a time when only the top racers got their results relatively quickly," said Pedersen. "But now if you finish 10th or 20th or whatever, you will know how you finished. That's important because these are the runners who can benefit the most because they see where they stand and what they need to do to improve."
And, yes, the guesswork has disappeared for athletes and coaches. So have the arguments between coach and coach and athlete and athlete that often characterized competitions in the past.
"There's no disputing who finished where, because the times are electronically recorded and the cameras catch the placements," said Hearst. "I once had a parent question a time because he said he had a different time on his stopwatch. I could only shake my head, because nothing is more accurate that the equipment we used, right down to thousands of a second."
Rob Dearborn, the athletic director at Moorpark High, says Royal Results' technology has been a veritable godsend for track and field administrators.
"It's made everybody's job so much easier, not just because meets are finished a lot sooner but because the guesswork is gone," he said. "Remember the days when there would be a timer in each lane and everybody would get together to see who had what on their watches? Guys would routinely, say, 'That can't be right' and they would toss out the time.
"I wonder now how many races everybody got wrong. That doesn't happen any more."
Dearborn hired Royal Results to administer the Ventura County Championships on April 29, the Marmonte League prelims and finals on May 3 and May 5, and the CIF-SS Division 2 prelims held Saturday.
But that's just the beginning of the company's in-demand status.
Among the prestigious track and field timed and conducted in the past two months were the Arcadia Invitational, Oregon vs. UCLA and USC vs. UCLA duals and SCIAC championships at Occidental College. Next up this month are the CIF-SS Finals and the CIF-SS Masters at Cerritos College.
If you want to get on the schedule, book now. "Our schedule is already complete for next fall and 2012," said Hearst. "We're taking reservations for 2013."
Royal Results was born in 1993, with Hearst and Pedersen using software supplied by Hy-Tek Meet Manager and a Chronomix 737 timing clock to oversee meets for the Valley Youth Conference and later, Royal High.
When Lynx developed its high-tech cameras, Royal Results partnered with the Simi Valley Running Rebels to purchase a system.
It's interesting to note that neither Pedersen nor Hearst were runners in high school or college. But Hearst's son Tim, became the first standout boys runner at Royal High before graduating in 2003. Pedersen's daughter Jacyln was a star for the Royal girls who graduated in 2001.
"I grew to love the sport," said Pedersen. "Doing this how allowed me to stay close and stay connected to track and field and cross country," said Pedersen. "That's what of the main reasons I do this."It's not about the money.
Over time, the outlay for equipment has been around $10,000. Royal Results, in turn, charges anywhere from $400 to $1,000 for most meets. a relatively modest price considering the investment in time.
Hearst, a resident of Moorpark, is a former L.A. County fireman who is now retired. Pedersen, who lives with his family in Simi Valley, is a vice president with Paul Mitchell cosmetics.
"This is mostly a hobby for both of us," said Hearst. "I enjoy a challenge, and that's part of the attraction for me. We're always trying to do this faster and better. We're always looking to improve."
Reliable equipment has made for few glitzes over the years. There was an incident, at one key meet this year, when all the cameras and gear briefly went dark.
"Somebody had pulled out our electrical plug to plug in their own camera," said Hearst. "It's like,'Man,what are you doing."
As the center of operations for all that happens in a meet, it might seem like a pressurized environment to be inside the Royal Results tent. Not so, says Hearst.
"One of the reasons why Erik and I get along so well is that we're both alike in our personalities," he said, "Neither one of us is going to get overly stressed. We trust each other, and we've had lots of experience at this.
Source link: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/may/14/Royal_results_stats/
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