Introduction to RRGP Charts

Your RRGP data are now available to look at whenever you want, in an Excel spreadsheet posted in the club grand prix section of rochesterrunners.com. If you have run at least five or so races in the past year you will have your own worksheet with a graph in addition to a table of your race data. The graph shows all your races, no matter what the distance, on a single “5K equivalent” scale for comparison. This way you can see which were your best and worst races, look for an overall pattern of improvement or consistency, and see how you did compared to your speed point goals. For a more detailed description of the graph itself, go to the “Explanation of Performance Graph” page.

Charts are in alphabetical order by first then last name, although the names are abbreviated on the worksheet tabs, usually by the first letter of the first name and the first three letters of the last name (e.g., Alison Black is abbreviated “ABla”). A few are abbreviated differently to avoid duplicate labels (like DanP and DavP instead of DPol for the Poliquin brothers). If you haven’t run enough races to make a meaningful graph, your races are listed in the “not graphed” worksheet at the end. Charts are distributed among five separate spreadsheets, to keep the files down to a manageable size for backing up on floppies and for e-mailing: A-C, D-G, H-K, L-O, and P-Z.

Above your graph is the list of your race times that the graph is based on. You will have to scroll up to see the whole table. It starts at least a year ago, so you can compare your race performances over the past year. Periodically races over a year old will be dropped to make room for adding new ones. The graph and list are formatted to print out together on a single page. Below is an orientation to how the race list is organized. Don’t be overwhelmed; it may seem complex at first, but it’s easy to read the table once you know what everything is.

The first column shows the baseline time that was used for each of your races (read more about baselines on the “explanation” worksheet of the “Check Out Your Baseline and Speed Point Goals” spreadsheet).

Next is the race date and name. NHGP races are listed in bold font.

The columns labeled “+1%, +3%, and +5%” show the goals on the 5K equivalent scale for 3, 2, and 1 speed points, in that order. “5Keq” is the 5K equivalent time for each race. The actual finish time, which will be different than the “5Keq” if the distance wasn’t 5K, is entered in three separate columns, “H, M, and S” for hours, minutes, and seconds. (It’s much easier to enter the times that way than typing in the whole formula for a time in a single column.) For chip-timed races using a starting mat, RRGP uses your net time, not your “official” or “gun” time. “Miles” is the race distance to the nearest 0.001 mile. “Ratio” is the pace ratio to the nearest 0.001, used to calculate the 5K equivalent time by adjusting for the fact that your pace slows as the race distance increases. (You can read more about pace ratios on the “Explanation of Performance Graph” page of our website)

The last four columns show the RRGP scoring for each race: speed points, distance points, team points, and the total score for the race. If the “speed” column is blank it means that the race was not run on a USATF certified course and the race is ineligible for speed points. If the “total” column is blank it means it was not one of your top 10 races of the year. Below those four columns are the current year totals for number of races (n) and total score for your best 10 races in the year (T).

Between the race list and the graph, in a light blue font color, is a summary of your speed point goals for upcoming races. These are based on your current baseline race, which is identified by gold highlighting in the date and 5Keq columns. Your baseline changes when you beat it or when it becomes over a year old. Previous baseline races have their date and 5Keq highlighted in pale yellow.

If you are a marathon runner, the Boston qualifying standard for your age division is shown below the speed point goals in a green font. If you run a Boston qualifying time, your finish time (H, M, and S columns) is in a bold green font and highlighted in light green.

Races faster than your USATF age-group standard are shown by a bold red font for your finish time (H, M, S). These are the times that are indicated by asterisks in the race results of races timed by Granite State Race Services (“* Under USATF Age Group guideline”). If you have earned one or more age group asterisks, the standards for your age group are shown in red font in a box to the right of the speed point goals for 5K, 8K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon.

Please send your questions, corrections, and comments to Paul Lindsay at bplindsay@hotmail.com.