An Interview With Doug Padilla – by Donal Pearce

Former NCS, Chabot College, & BYU star still involved in the sports in big way "Runnercard.com" and Director of Track & Field Operations at BYU

Donal Pearce photos of the Runnercard.com system in action!! - ALBUM

Doug Padilla is arguably one of America’s all-time best long distance runners. He is currently Director of Track and Field Operations at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. On October 19th, via e-mail, I was able to get Doug to answer some questions about his timing software, the RunnerCard system, himself as a competitor and as an accident-recovery inspiration to runners everywhere, and a little about some California athletes (especially Chad Durham and Kristy Barrus) that have moved on to the BYU program in Utah. He is a very busy man and we appreciate his time in answering a few questions.

(The accompanying pictures were taken while Doug and his helpers worked the Inland Empire Challenge meet on October 9, 2004.)

Q: What is your affiliation with the Inland Empire Championships?

Doug Padilla: I have been hired to do the timing and scoring at the Inland Empire meet since it's inception.

Q: Tell me about the RunnerCard system. I understand from your website, runnercard.com, that your ". . . services include our signature RunnerCard personal result card for each finisher. Each road race finisher will know their time, place, division place and pace per mile as soon as they exit the chute!" This is unique, right? I mean, nowhere else do you have results so quick.

Doug Padilla: To my knowledge, there is no other system that produces a personal result card. It has been very well received and is a lot of fun!

Q: How accurate have you found your system to be?

Doug Padilla: The system ends up being really quite accurate. We collect times at the finish line and scan the runners in finish order while they are still in the chute. We also collect "select times" at the finish. The data that we collect allows us to make simple corrections to the results that might occur from operator errors by the timers.

Q: Are the cards that are handed out 100% accurate at that moment or do you hand out finalized results a little later?

Doug Padilla: The cards are marked as "Unofficial Results". There are a few things that could change the results and make the cards inaccurate. The most common problem is a runner that was registered in a different race than he ran. Then a decision must be made as to how to respond. The meet director establishes the policies, and we implement those policies. Most times, the runner's registration is changed to place him into the race where he actually ran. Hopefully, it does not happen too often. The system allows us to modify registration at any time and do a rescore. Sometimes we see an error, change the registration and reprint the card before hardly any other runners have finished! It was quite a challenge to provide the ability to modify registration to a race where the runners are still finishing! Sometimes it is not possible to move a runner into the race where he ran. The runner may have run in a race that is an incorrect division and prevents us from moving his registration. Most of the time the cards have very accurate information.

Q: How long have you been using this system? Are there any other benefits to this system that you'd like to comment on?

Doug Padilla: We developed the system in 1997 and have been improving it ever since. It was originally developed in DOS, which was not compatible with Windows. We have since redesigned the system to be able to run in Windows, which is the most common operating system. The system is simple enough to use and run that it is now available for sale. We have added some nice benefits in custom results for the coaches, and we can send both individual and team scoring information to a scoreboard. The first time that the NCAA Cross Country Championships had scoreboard information, in 1999, we were doing it. Our system still drives a scoreboard. The hard part now is just to find a scoreboard to display your results!

Q: A little about you, Doug, for our readers:
• Graduate of BYU in '83
• All-American in 1978 and Academic All-American 1978
• National indoor two-mile champ '81
• You went on after college to win four 5K national championships in a row, '83 - '86
• You won the '84 Olympic trials and competed in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, finishing 7th
• You came back to win the 5K at the World Cup of '85
• You set American records seven different times and are the current American record holder in the 5K and two-mile

From the BYU bio, we learn the following: “Doug Padilla, Director of Track and Field Operations; Doug is one of the most decorated track athletes in BYU history. An eight-time All-American, Doug rewrote the record books in the distance events while competing for the Cougars. His 1500-meter record (3:38.37) still stands today. In 1981, Doug won the NCAA indoor two mile in a memorable battle with UTEP Olympian Suleiman Nyambui that is remembered as one of the great moments in BYU sports history.

"After college, Padilla was a 12-time US national champion while setting seven American records, two of which still stand (indoor two mile and indoor 5000-meter). A two-time Olympian, he is a veteran of five world championships. His accolades include victories in the 5000 meters at the 1985 World Cup and the 1986 Goodwill Games. From 1981 to 1990 he
was nationally ranked 13 times in the 1500-meter/mile and 5000-meter and world ranked three times in the 5000-meter. His top ranking was in 1985 when he was ranked second in the world.

"Doug joined the [BYU] women's athletic department in March of 1999 as an administrative assistant assigned to track and field. He is now the Director of Track and Field Operations. He has played a key role in the creation and promotion of a number of high school and collegiate competitions, including the Utah Collegiate Championships. He is a past member of the Board
of Directors for USA Track and Field. Doug is married to the former Lynette Nielson. They have four children- Janae, Javan, Kevin, and Michelle."

Doug Padilla: Sounds good. (Did I really do all of that?)

Q: Doug, please fill us in, if you will, on the events several summers ago (June '96), when you were involved in a car accident. What happened and how are you doing in your recovery? Your efforts have been a point of inspiration for many and we'd appreciate a review of the events.

Doug Padilla: On June 19th, 1996 at 4:32 pm, while on a 5 mile training run, I was hit by a car while crossing an intersection near my home. It was one of those things where circumstances just lined up so that the driver of the car and I could not see each other until the last second. My lower left leg was severely shattered. The tibia would not heal; some 20 cm had died. After over a year, the doctor's were at a standstill. We found a specialist who was willing to try bone transport to try to replace the dead bone. An external fixator was used and after over 2 years, we were successful. I can do most anything that I need to. I have limited range of motion in the ankle, which has limited my running. But, I can still run some. At one point I was up to 3 miles a day.

Q: Doug, tell us about the California athletes running cross country at BYU. How have they done since their prep days and how is their 2004 collegiate season shaping up?

Warren Davis (Bakersfield H.S., 1999 CIF State XC Championships, Div. 1, 48th place at 16:16 behind Travis Laird's winning time of 15:21; won race 44 Mt. Sac '99 with a 15:48.00; previously attended Cal State Northridge)

Doug Padilla: I do not know Warren. I'll have to investigate.

Chad Durham (Long Beach Poly H.S. - State XC champion 1997 with a 15:24 at Woodward Park; from the BYU bio: "Captain of his cross country team at Long Beach Poly HS ... state division one cross country champion, leading his team to the state title ... all-state and all-CIF ... placed second in CIF and 13th at Foot Locker Regionals ... led team to state team track title his senior year ... won CIF two mile and Master's two mile ... placed third in state in the two mile ... finished second at Junior Nationals in the 10K ... ran at World Junior Championships in
France.")

Doug Padilla: Chad has done quite well and is an integral part of the team. He is a senior this year. He was the team's second runner at the Pre-national meet this last weekend.

Nathan Ogden (Pleasant Valley H.S., Chico; finished 18th with a 16:03 at D2 State XC 2003 to winner Mark Matusak's 15:08; finished 53rd with a 16:19 at D2 State XC 2002 to winner Phillip Reid's 15:01)

Doug Padilla: I do not know Nathan either.

Kristy Barrus (Clovis H.S. - 19:45 2000 Mt. SAC Invite; from the BYU bio: "Lettered in track and cross country four years at Clovis HS ... five time state qualifier ... named all-league and all-valley four times ... 2002 Valley Champion in the 3,200 meter ... best times are 5:05 (1,600m), 11:12 (3,200m) and 19:15 (5K)")

Doug Padilla: Kristy is a tough runner, in both track and cross country. She ran well at the Pre-Mountain West Conference Meet a couple of weeks ago, finishing 3rd in the race and 3rd on the team.

Whitney McDonald (Thousand Oaks H.S. - Team captain; as a junior, her team finished ranked #14 in the nation; 5th place 18:01 Mt. SAC Invite to Rachel Bryan's 17:08; 2002 Woodbridge Invite 2002 race winner with 18:25 time; 19:09 Mt. SAC time in 2001; from the BYU bio: "Earned four letters in cross country and track at Thousand Oaks High School . . . was an academic athlete in cross country and track . . . was honored as an outstanding junior in cross country and track and as an outstanding senior in cross country . . . was athlete of the week in the Ventura County Star newspaper . . . helped her team to take 3rd place at the 2001 state cross country championships and 2nd place at the 2002 state cross country championships.")

Doug Padilla: I think that Whitney is red-shirting this cross country season, though I am not sure. I don't recall seeing her in the results. She is a tough 10,000m runner, finishing 2nd in the MWC Championships last spring.

Donal Pearce: Doug, good luck on your endeavors and thank you for sharing some time from your busy schedule this season for dyestatcal.com readers!

Doug Padilla: Thanks!