NEOC Points Series Update as of 07 SEP 2011

by Peter Frykman, Points Series Administrator

Here are the standings as of 07 SEP 2011 for the 2011 NEOC Points Series.

I have used the same handicapping scheme that was used last year, but I rebuilt the spreadsheets to accommodate the larger number of people that are involved. This year, all current NEOC members get their points counted in the Series. At this time, 140 NEOCers have been out on courses attempting to rack up points. Just like last year the NEOC Club Champions for the year will be determined by the Points Series.

If you run a course at any NEOC meet this calendar year, that performance counts toward points in the series. If you participate in more than one course at a meet, you will get the points from your best race on that day. A maximum of 12 races will be counted toward your year-end total. If you compete in more than 12 meets, the best 12 will count. Because these points determine the Club Champs in different age groups, only solo efforts count toward points.

The categories that are being contested are “based” on OUSA age and gender groups. Not every single OUSA age group will be awarded. Some of the groups are merged. These are primarily adult age groups. The contested groups are determined by the color of your age group course. The Groups are:

Your points for each race are calculated based on your placement in the field of all the runners in your race (1^st place = 100 points, last place gets you at least 1 point), and you get .1 point for each person in the field of your race. This sub-total is multiplied by a handicap based on your OUSA age group course. If you run a course in your age group, your handicap is 1.0. If you race on a course for a younger age group, you are penalized; if you race on a course for an older age group, you are rewarded.

Handicaps are as follows: correct age group = 1.0, 1 group younger = 0.9, 2 groups younger = 0.75, 3 groups younger = 0.55, 4 or more groups younger = 0.0, 1 group older = 1.1, 2 groups older = 1.25, 3 or more groups older = 1.45.

Courses that fall outside the normal OUSA age group designations have a handicap of 1.0. These include sprints, canoe-o, bike-o, score-o, etc. DNF efforts get 0 points.

You may find that you are not on the points list. This could be due any of a number of factors:

• It is very important to make sure your name is consistently spelled and legibly printed on the Safety Card at the start of the race — this is where the meet director gets your name for the race report. If you use your own finger-stick, register it with NEOC — then your info will appear in the results automatically. 
• Have you let your NEOC membership lapse?
• Do you have an individual or family membership? Kids and spouses of individual members don’t get entered.

The way that we know if you are a club member is if you are on a membership list which gets updated several times a year. Individual and family members are listed, and Family memberships name the members of the family.

Some club members did not provide year of birth info so their age group could not be calculated. If you think that you should be on the list, or are listed with the wrong age/gender, contact Peter Frykman and the list will be corrected.