12

Race Types? (Read 580 times)

    Not so much a request for a new feature but more a question of how everyone uses existing features:

     

    Since there is no way to break down “Race” in the log into Track Race, Road Race, XC Race, is there a convention that most of you use for this? Do you lump all 5km races (for example) together regardless of terrain or do you create a custom activity for Track Races and/or XC Races and setup the activity to allow PRs?

     

    I don’t run enough XC or Track for it to matter but was wondering ho everyone else on here handles this…

    kcam


      This is lacking on RA.  The only distances that I run track and road are 1 mile and 5K.  I also run lots of XC 5K races.  Convention I use (for easy visual sorting of list of races) is road - "5km", track - "5000m", XC - "3.1mi".  Similar for the mile track is "1609m".  Not perfect but as good as I can figure for RA.


      #artbydmcbride

        If I put down 3.1 miles for the distance and 5k for the distance, it gives me two different PRs  so I could use the kilometers for trail races

         

        Runners run

        kcam


          If I put down 3.1 miles for the distance and 5k for the distance, it gives me two different PRs  so I could use the kilometers for trail races

           

          It doesn't do that for me .... 3.1miles, 5000m and 5km all get reported onn my PR page as 5.00km.  Take a look ...

           

           


          #artbydmcbride

            dang it....you're right!

             

            Runners run

              Most of my races are trail or hybrids (usually with lots of hills and sometimes with more technical footing), and we do PRs by course rather than distance. (I'd probably just sort on race name in RA.)  Also, our fall xc series has the approximate distance announced at the start line, and it may or may not be close to that - but they're a heck of a lot of fun.

               

              Just looking at the little bit of data I've got in there now, it looks like it differentiates 26.2mi from 27mi (gps measured long), which I'd expect if it's just distance based. So it looks like courses will differentiate themselves by having different distance. And timed races will also show up as different distances.

               

              I can see the issue for those with road and track - 5k vs 5000m.

              "So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog
              Julia1971


                I lump all the race distances together.  Here's what I do...

                 

                I make courses for the common race distances I run - basically, the ones in my signature.  So, I have courses named "Race: 10K", "Race 5K", "Race: 10 Miler", "Race: Half Marathon", "Race: Marathon", and "Race: Miscellaneous Distances".  (If I were to run on different terrains, I would probably do something like, "Race - Road: 5K", "Race - Track: 5K", "Race - Trail: 5K")

                 

                Then when I run a race, I select "Race" as the workout type, select the appropriate course/distance, and then enter the mileage manually since my Garmin is usually long.  In the notes field, which I keep private, I will type the name of the race and include a link to the race results for future reference. 

                 

                Not sure if this helps but...

                yweuishdf


                  spam
                  Turbolegs


                    Eric - your latest project just arrived. How did this bot (as above) break through?

                    I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.

                    eric :)


                      Eric - your latest project just arrived. How did this bot (as above) break through?

                       

                      This one is a little alarming because of the speed of some of the posts that it could be a bot.  Since I'm working on enhancing the forums right now, maybe I can put in some bot detection code to slow their posting down.  Of course, there's nothing I can do if the spammer is a human.

                       

                      Back to the original topic.  I think we can refine the PR listing by introducing multiple sections, based on the terrain type.  All races will still be in the category of race, but based on whether the course is on asphalt, track or trail, the races will be listed separately.  Thoughts?


                      Feeling the growl again

                         All races will still be in the category of race, but based on whether the course is on asphalt, track or trail, the races will be listed separately.  Thoughts?

                         

                        Road/Track/Trail would be sufficient options, IMO.  Unless the masses feel strongly that Cross Country and Trail should be separate categories (I don't see much value in that).

                        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                         

                        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                         

                          Road/Track/Trail would be sufficient options, IMO.  Unless the masses feel strongly that Cross Country and Trail should be separate categories (I don't see much value in that).

                           

                          +1

                           

                          I don't have a huge experience with XC v. Trail running but it does seem to me that most "XC" races are in the ballpark of 8km and most "Trail" races tend to be either longer than 8km and often non-integer distances. I expect that the most overlap would be road/track mile and 5km and your breakdown would cover that.

                          kcam


                            Road/Track/Trail would be sufficient options, IMO.  Unless the masses feel strongly that Cross Country and Trail should be separate categories (I don't see much value in that).

                             

                            I guess I agree with this.  I was going to say I didn't (since XC races are raced FAST and your typical Trail race is a much longer distance raced more like an ultra) but, then again, we don't really care about times in trail or XC races just placement.

                             

                            Bottom line for me is  Road/Track/Trail is fine.

                              Since trail runners usually go by course rather than distance, it's not a big deal how RA treats these PR's, but just wanted to clarify.

                               

                              Trail races do come in 5k and 10k distances - as well as some other distances based on how far it is between trailheads. Difference between xc and trail around here is usually footing with xc being on xc ski trails (too many people to put them on single tracks anymore) and trails having roots and rocks (sometimes on ski trails also). We do have xc races for general public as well as the school competitions where placement is important. XC races on municipal trails in Anchorage can have over 1000 people while trail races usually top out at 100 or 200, limited by permits (state, borough).

                               

                              Some trail races are better classed as mountain races since they'd have 2000ft of vertical in 2.2 mi (not a typo - generally 20-30% slopes).

                               

                              Placement can be a function of who shows up, but our faster folks may be going for course records. But they probably aren't posting here. Wink

                               

                              Given all the issues with trail races (footing, vertical), this is why people usually just go by course. I keep that info in my access db (just behind on entries right now) and wouldn't expect RA to accommodate all those issues.

                              "So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog
                              Julia1971


                                I guess my "concern troll" observation would be that people might start wanting all kinds of ways of categorizing their PRs.  (For example, maybe people would want to sort out their younger vs. older PRs).  Maybe this could be a log option that is editable so that people can customize it?

                                12