Archie Mills says he’s both satisfied and challenged by a hobby that allows him to give something to the community.
“It’s really very simple, but it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “Being retired, I find it real satisfying.”
Mills, 77, Lawrence, is one of several timers and judges who have been volunteering their services for decades at various Kansas University and city-sponsored track and field meets.
“There’s a lot of them who have been here 20 years or more,” Mills said. “You go to any one of the track and field events and you see these same guys here all the time.”
The volunteer timers and judges were busy Friday and Saturday monitoring events at the Big Eight Indoor track championships.
Although they come from diverse backgrounds and became interested in track and field meets for different reasons, the volunteers share a love of their hobby.
“I think I enjoy the things that carry the most responsibility,” said Lew Llewellyn, 63, Lawrence, a retired Haskell Indian Junior College coach and teacher who has been working local track and field meets for 35 years.
“I’ve done a little bit of everything,” he says, including timing, judging the finishing order of race participants and shooting the starter’s pistol for races.
“You’ve got to stay focused on whatever job is assigned to you,” he said, adding that sometimes it’s difficult to be an official and not become excited about a close race.
“You can watch the race, but you can’t relax too much. Of course, after doing it a few years, it gets easier and easier.”
Timers and judges must be certified to work the track meets. The certification process includes a one-day seminar and an exam.
Although the timers and judges spend five to six hours a day working track meets such as the Big Eight Indoor and the Kansas Relays, their efforts only are used as a standby to an electronic timer, called the Accutrak system, which measures race finshes with photographs taken hundreths of a second apart. The machine also automatically times races.
“We’re just backups,” said Phil Montgomery, a 56-year-old associate math professor at KU and head finish line judge at this weekend’s competition.
“For an event like this, we’re here just in case the Accutrak breaks down . . . but for other (city) events, they couldn’t run them without us because they don’t have an Accutrak.”
Montgomery, who has been working at the meets 15 years, said he became interested after his daughter ran track in high school.
“I would go and see her, and I noticed that there were all kinds of people helping with it,” he said. “I decided I’d get involved a little bit and I decided to keep it up. It’s fun to watch the kids progress.”
Craig Grant, a 46-year-old Lawrence resident who works as a lobbyist at the Statehouse in Topeka, said the best part of volunteering is his view of the events.
“I just enjoy watching the races and it’s the best view in the house,” he said. “It’s a fun hobby, and I think we’re also providing a service to our university.”
