Scoring a series

Our community recently formed a recreation district and they are putting on a 4 race 10K series. The director doesn't have a running background and has asked for input on how to determine the winner of the series. Each race will be on a different course. Should he add together times for a total time or use a point system?

To complicate the question...he asked runners to commit to the series at the first race and only had a dozen runners sign up. There seemed to be some concern that if a runner missed one race then they were out of the series competition. It was suggested that they score any 3 of the 4 races so that runners who had a conflict on one date could still participate. Any thoughts?

I think this is something that may eventually catch on and become a fun community event. This first race was a brand new event. Two of the remaining 3 races are long running very well supported events...at least for a community of this size.

Thanks for any input you may be able to provide.

Here's how my running club scores their series. It's a little complicated, but that's because of their taking into account some of the concerns you raised. Plus they had to deal with more than one race on two of the five days. That part could be taken out.

I think the key is, the more people that sign up, the more points that are awarded. So that race with just four people will still count, but won't earn many points. Still, those people do have an advantage in the other three races.

Bear in mind, this is a large, competitive club - they had 72 participants in the series (at least 3 races) and 0ver 100 participants in one of the events - so things are on a larger scale than what you probably need for Year 1.



Must register and complete specified races within series. Participants must consistently register under their full name as it appears on our membership list -- these are the names that are used to search for SRR members within race results.

Scoring will go as follows: the last place SRR finisher in every series event will receive 10 points, next to last 11 points, and so on.

<p>An example for 5 finishers:

• 1st = 14 points
  
• 2nd = 13 points
  
• 3rd = 12 points
  
• 4th = 11 points
  
• 5th = 10 points
  

<p>Example for 10 finishers:

• 10th place gets 10 points....1st place gets 19 points.
  

Scoring for more than one race option (January & March races):

January - Race results for both, the 5K and 10K will be normalized into one list for scoring purposes. Using a formulaic approach, both race results will be weighed equally normalize the finish times and apply the scoring of participants. These races will not be scored separately.



March - Results for, both, the Quincy and New Bedford Half Marathons will be combined into one list and scoring will be applied. These races will not be scored separately.

This scoring system encourages participation and competition. The more SRR participants, the better the chance for higher points. Every race will be scored, the more races you run the better you will do. Highest (and lowest) scoring, as well as participation levels, will be awarded. All participants will have their names and point totals published to the SRR website after each event.

Presentation of awards will be done in May. Time and date are TBD.

<p>Awards are as follows:

• Participants in 3 or 4 events: Travel Tumbler with SRR Logo
  
• Participants in all 5 events: Insulated Tote Bag with SRR Logo (in addition to tumbler)
  
• Top 5 scoring men and women: Sports Duffel Bag with SRR Logo (in addition to above awards)
  
• Bottom 2 scoring men and women, with participation in 3 or more events: Sports Duffel Bag with SRR Logo (in addition to a Tumbler or Tote Bag)
  

Thanks Martin

That seems like it would work well. I'll pass on the information and we'll see how it goes.

Thanks again for the info.

Yup, I would develop a system based on finishing position, not cumulative time. That's how the Chicago Area Runner's Association does their year long Race Circuit.