Results de-mystified
The results which are archived within runbritainrankings are exactly the same as those produced by the organisers of each race. These come in many different formats – some of which are more compatible with our database than others. We only include race results for events which hold a UKA licence or TRA permit.
Once a race publishes its results we create a link to them in our fixture list. To see the list of races included, click on Results (top centre):
http://www.runbritainrankings.com/results/resultslookup.aspx
Where the race name is red in colour, clicking on it will take you to the race website where you will be able to view your result within a day or two of the race.
Once the race organiser has had chance to verify and make any initial corrections to this first set of results we will then queue them for processing into a standard format so that our database will accept them for long term storage – like a scrapbook - and so that it will recognise a bib number as a bib number not a position, a forename as a forename and not a surname and so on. We aim to do this within a few days of receiving them.
Using draft or provisional results may lead to them being deleted and being reprocessed and any manually claimed ones becoming unlinked. If any further minor changes are made after we have uploaded results, these can be made manually but will only be made if they can be verified against the official results, produced by the race organiser. Please contact the Race Director with any queries in the first instance.
The information that we need as a bare minimum, for the system to store the results and assign performances to an individual automatically, is best provided as an Excel file :
Finishing position by gun time
Bib number
First name
Surname
Club
Gender
Age Category (we use 5 year bands for vets) / Age on the day
Gun time*
Chip time*
*Times should be rounded up as per UKA rules:
Rule 119.24: "For all races held partly or entirely outside the stadium, the time shall be read to 1/100th second. All times not ending in two zeros shall be converted to the next longer whole second, e.g. for the Marathon a time of 2h 09m 44.32s shall be recorded as 2h 09m 45s."
29:22.000 would be 29:22 but 29:22.019 becomes 29:23.
Times should be shown as mm:ss digits upto 99:59 and from 1:40:00 onwards as h:mm:ss.
Where results do not meet the above standard they may be delayed as we will need extra time to re-format them. In addition, performances are unlikely to be assigned automatically to individual runners should the information given be incomplete. For example, consider the imaginary 10K result for:
-
Smith 37:03
There are many runners this could be so the system will not know who to assign it to (see image).
Now imagine the information given includes gender – this will narrow the choices down to either males or females. By having age category – it will reduce the choices further. If we have club membership and first name too there’s quite a high chance this will make the result unique and the system will assign it to the person that data matches. If any one of these factors are missing – multiple options are likely to be available limiting the system’s ability to definitely match result to person.
This is why some results have to be manually assigned – if the information shown in the results matches what is shown on a profile the system will do its best to assign it. If not, runners will need to manually assign it either via the Add Performances page (top left) once logged in (select distance, year then your race and enter your time as shown in the official results) or by clicking on the envelope next to a result using the Results page (top centre) - click on the word "Full" to see the results.
Runners can help by entering races using the exact information shown on their profiles. Race organisers can help by supplying the information as listed above. Please do not submit results for inclusion unless you are a race organiser within the first few days after a race.