How Rankings were Calculated (2004 and Earlier)

First, there are some general non-math related rules:

  1. Must participate in at least four events to be included in the rankings
  2. For every five events in which you participate, the worst score will be
    3. discarded. Participate in ten events and two will be discarded, etc.
  3. Running as part of a group does not count
  4. If you run more than one course at an event, only the most difficult course for that event will count
  5. Must be a member of DVOA, SVO, or POC in order to be listed in the rankings
  6. Must be a member of DVOA in order to win
  7. DNFs do not count in the rankings, but they are counted as a worst score and will be included in the list of scores that are discarded (See rule #2).

Now for the math:

  • Each finish time is converted to total seconds. All calculations are based on total seconds.
  • The average time of the top three finishers on each course is calculated. The top three times are used, regardless of whether or not they were posted by club members, nonmembers, or groups. No correction factor is used when calculating this average.
  • Each finishers time is multiplied by a time factor based on the course difficulty level:
    • Blue 0.95
    • Red 1.0 (1.05 if there is a blue course for that event)
    • Green 1.3
    • Brown 1.4
    • Orange 1.5
    • Yellow 1.7
    • White 1.9
  • Each adjusted time is divided into the top three average time for that course.
  • The result of the above is a ratio that typically is a very small number, so it is multiplied by 1000 simply to scale it to a bigger number. For example, 1415 is easier to deal with than 1.415.