Nowadays many multi day O events are going to calculate the overall results by point score methods which enable runners to eliminate their worst results. Thus runners need not to take part in all stages which allows them to use this additional free time for other recreational activities.
Initially, this requirement had been demanded by the multi day events in France, Scotland and Hungary. The point scoring functions are included completely in OE12.
Currently the point calculations support six scoring methods.
Using the Standard method, a runner’s points are given by
1000 + 200*(Mean time – runner’s time)/standard deviation.
Mean time and standard deviation are calculated from all running times of the category. This formula is the mathematical standard for normalizing data. It is often used in sports to allow to add results which have to be measured by different units. In orienteering, a similar formula is used for the world rankings. Multi day events with a chase start should use this formula.
Using the 1000 points method, a runner’s points are given by
1000*winner’s time/runner’s time.
This formula had been used at the Scottish 6days in former times, thus it is also known as Scottish method. Of course it will determine the correct winner. However, the point score of the remaining runners depends extremely on the winning time and the terrain specific time differences. Thus the calculation of chase start times may be not objective enough.
Using the Per cent method, a runner’s points are given by
Maximum points – (runner’s time-winner’s time)/winner’s time*100.
In other words, the point score is the maximum value minus the time difference as a percentage. A maximum value of 100 means that all runners who are more than 100% behind the leader (the doubled winning time), will get zero points.
This method is being used for many national and regional ranking systems. It is also suitable if you are performing a chase start.
Using the Danish method, a runner’s points are given by
Maximum points – difference to the winner in full minutes.
Only full minutes count for the difference. That means that all runners within the same difference minute will get the same points. Especially, all runners within less than one minute will get the maximum points like the winner.
This method comes from Denmark.
Brazilian method
This is a special algorithm used in Brazil. Shortly said, the best 35 places will be awarded points with special credits for the first 3 places, similar to cars’ Formula1. There are special rules how to decide places with the same points, based on the running times and on how many races those competitors had finished.
Welsh method
This is a special calculation which is used at the Croeso Multidays in Wales.
A competitor’s points are given by
1250 + 600*(ParTime-competitor’s time)/ParTime.
ParTime is the average time of the leading 50% of starters. Starters mean all those who have started, no matter if they have a valid result. So mped etc. count for this number. If less than 50% of the starters have a valid result, then the ParTime is taken as the average time of 90% of all those with a valid result. The ParTime can be calculated either based on the current class only or based on all classes (competitors) who ran the same course.
You can define the precision by the number of decimal places and how they should be calculated (rounded or truncated).
In OE12, you can report the point score results in the same way like ordinary time-based results. You can define how many results until the current stage should be taken to calculate the overall point score. To calculate the chase start times, the overall points have to be converted back to times.