Hi Justin,

If the time is always entered as a 4 digit number representing mmss within
the range 1000 to 9959, it would be possible to convert this to time format
with e.g. in b1:
=TEXT("0:"&LEFT(a1,2)&":"&RIGHT(a1,2),"hh:mm:ss")
where 5432 is in a1.
To allow for hours 23 in the cumulative time, a custom format can be
created:
[h]:mm:ss (to be used instead of hh:mm:ss).

Hth
Anthony

"jk" wrote:

I direct a one-hour race walk event on a track and want to enter lap
times each athlete into an Excel spreadsheet. The times are in minutes
and second (MM:SS) and each athlete can complete as many 35 laps. I
calculate and display the cumulative and elapsed time for each lap.

Currently, I enter each time as 0:MM:SS. So, 54 minutes and 32 seconds
would be entered as 0:54:32. I'm not a very good typist and the extra
typing seems unnecessary. I would like to enter the time as 5432 and
have Excel convert my entry to the time format.

I'm a novice with Excel. What is the best way to use Excel to speed up
the data entry process?

Thank you. -- Justin