Company History

Burns Computer Services: Innovative and Pioneering

Mike Burns began Burns Computer Services (BCS) almost 30 years ago. During this time, the company established itself as a leader in the running and race timing community.

Mike started BCS based on his love of running. This “love” developed into one of the first companies in the country to create the method of “Computerized Race Timing”. Burns Computer Services was the first company to use microcomputers, which were precursors to notebooks, for race timing purposes. Burns built his own computers, wrote the programs and did all the interfacing. Then, BCS introduced bar code scoring, which entailed tear-off bar codes on race number bibs. The combination of bar codes and on-site microcomputers tremendously reduced the process time to produce race results.

Later, TIRIN (The International Race Information Network) came from the forethought of wanting to give runners and multi-sport athletes the ability to receive their results faster than waiting for a post card in the mail or newspaper the next day. This service, a pre-Internet service, enabled athletes to receive same-day results. Athletes could call a 900 number, pay $2, and hear their time, their place overall, etc. and share those results with family and friends from anywhere in the world.

A short time after that, when the Internet was in its first stages of development, Burns introduced Sportsworld.com, the first website with online registration, searchable results and digital photography.

Always trying to improve the process of timing and results, in 1996 Burns discovered and teamed up with ChampionChip, a new company at the time and a relationship that lasted 12 years. During this time Mike Burns was the North American Distributor for ChampionChip and their technology. This relationship introduced and supplied the US and the World RFID timing for running and multi-sport events. Then, using this RFID technology, Burns developed a variety of tools that helped provide race results live to the Internet from the finish line and race course; including live splits, text messaging results and virtual certificates.

While these past achievements have helped the running community greatly, Mike Burns and Burns Computer Services continues to move forward to service clients more efficiently, venture into new territory and give solutions to not before available.