End of Year Awards and the Virginia Triathlon Series Scoring System

Many people do not understand how the scoring system works for the Virginia Triathlon Series. In order to be eligible for an award, you need to compete in at least five races in the series. The options to choose from range from sprint, to Olympic, to the half ironman distance. The larger the distance of the race, the higher the race is weighted; the higher the number of participants, the higher the race is weighted; and the closer your finish time is to the top five athletes in your gender, the higher your points will be.

A quick take on how it works:

1. The top five athletes times per gender are averaged (A)

2. Your time (B) is divided into that average – so A/B

3. That score is multiplied by the weight (W) of the race [(A/B) x W)] – see the chart below

4. And finally that number is multiplied by 10,000 to make the number an integer

[(A/B) x W x 10,000)]

Below you can see how distances are weighted as well as a higher weight based on the number of participants: (http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&filename=VTSWeightsScoring.html)

Event Distance	Distance Factor	Depth of Field Factor (500+ finishers in 2011)	Depth of Field Factor (500+ finishers in 2012)
Sprint (pool swim)	0.90	---	0.91
Sprint (open water swim)	0.91	0.92	0.92
International	0.93	0.93	0.94
Half Ironman	0.95	0.94	0.96
Championship/ Qualifier Status	+ 0.01	+ 0.01	+0.01
Event Weight Classification Table

While this scoring system has been set up based on other models, there are definite controversies surrounding scores. The scoring system does not necessarily point to the fastest athlete and the slower athlete can score higher than the faster athlete just because they do a race that is more heavily weighted based on the distance and participant number, like an open water swim versus a pool swim or an Olympic or Sprint distance versus a half ironman.

Really, it’s a shame there isn’t a way to have awards just for the Sprint and Olympic distance and then a separate awards category for the larger distances like the half ironman and larger. This type of scoring as in most, places a greater importance on longer distances and the shorter distances get the shaft. They are two different beasts and it would be more fair to have a separate scoring system.

No matter the number of races you competed in, your top five scores are added for a final series scoring. The Virginia Triathlon Series awards per gender the top five finishers, the top five Masters, the top three per age group, the top three Athena, the top three Clydesdale, the top three Masters Clydesdale, and the top three Military.

I received my awards in the mail recently but the Virginia Triathlon Series also offers awards to participants who have completed five, nine, or twelve races. While I placed in my age group, I also completed twelve races so I received:

1. Three free sprint distance races for 2013 in the Virginia Triathlon Series;

2. A fleece pullover;

3. A fleece hat which I have already misplaced!!; and

4. A long sleeve t-shirt.

Just for participating in five races, participants receive a long sleeve t-shirt and a fleece hat, and for nine races you receive that as well as the fleece pullover.

So, while I had a great time racing this year, I did become slightly obsessed with the points system so I could nab a place in the top three in my 35-39 age group. It basically comes down to how close your times are to the top finishers and how heavily the race is weighted. Thanks to the Virginia Triathlon Series for putting on so many great and highly organized races and for providing great incentives and awards for their athletes!