Rankings

Every senior race with results on this site is replayed in date order. Each runner has a rating, which is how fast they are, and an uncertainty, which is how sure we are of it.

Each race

• How hard was it? The times of runners who already have ratings show how fast the course ran on the day, so the length, climb, terrain and weather all cancel out.
• How did you do? Your time is compared with that. Finishing ahead of a strong field earns more than finishing ahead of a weak one, and by how much you finished ahead counts too, not just your place.
• Your rating moves towards that run. It moves further when we're less sure of you, such as in your first few races, and less once you've raced a lot.
• One race can only move a rating so far, so a navigation error, fall or bad day won't wreck it. Races you didn't finish aren't counted.

Recent form counts most

The longer you go without racing, the less sure we are of your rating, so your next races move it further. Old results fade rather than counting forever.

The ranking

Runners are ranked by a cautious figure: a rating we're confident you're at least as good as. A runner with only a few races, or who hasn't raced for a while, sits a little lower until they race again. A rating of 100 is a typical runner, and 110 is about 10% faster, around 5 to 6 minutes quicker over an hour.

Who is included

WFRA members who have run at least 3 senior races, with at least one in the past 12 months. Class and category places come from the overall ranking, with categories based on age today.

Junior races aren't included: each age group runs its own course and only races itself, so those times can't be compared with anyone else's. Juniors who run senior races are rated from those.

Tested against past results, these ratings call who finishes ahead in about 92% of head-to-heads, compared with 90% for the average of best scores used before. Rankings update within 15 minutes of new results.