• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

Sprinting: The Secret to Fair Handicap Races

You are here: Home / Coaching / Sprinting: The Secret to Fair Handicap Races
1
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

March 11, 2015 by Jimson Lee Leave a Comment

This article was written by Michael Wright, Senior Partner and Chief Statistician for All Star Foot Racing.  As a primer to this article, read Why Handicap Races are Unfair.

As Chief Statistician for AllStarFootRacing.com, I was faced with the challenge of designing a handicap system for our 60m races to ensure all competitors of various abilities cross the finish line more or less together.

Stawell Gift - Why Handicap Races are Unfair

In order to achieve this I used the following procedure:

1. Gather as much data as possible

I gathered as much data as possible on the 50 to 60m split times from a wide a range of people spanning from the Olympic athlete to the 70 year-old veteran sprinter, male and female.

This was achieved through data available online for world class athletes and through the use of our Freelap Timing System for regular club athletes and older, slower veteran men and women.

A total of two hundred 50-60m split times were used.

2. Plot a Graph for “Best Fit”

Using the data, I plotted a graph showing the 50 to 60m splits versus the athletes’ 60m season’s best times. A “best fit” line was then established.

3. Add “Best Fit” to spreadsheet

I transferred the data acquired from the best fit line onto a spreadsheet so that the 50 to 60m splits can be seen against the 60m times.

4. For 60m Race, use 7 seconds for scratch

We have based our handicap on the scratch runner doing exactly 7 seconds for the 60m. All athletes with a season’s best of over 7 seconds are therefore given a head start.

To determine the head start each athlete is given, I subtracted the athlete’s 60m season’s best from 7 seconds then divided this figure by the athlete’s flying 1m time calculated by dividing their flying 50 to 60m time by 10. For instance, from my spreadsheet I can instantly see that I, Michael Wright, have a season’s best of 7.72s and that my 50 to 60m split time is 1.07575s. The handicap I should be given is therefore: (7.72-7.00)/(1.07575/10) = 6.69m.

See also  It Takes All Types

5. Apply to real life competition

I applied this handicap system to a real life competition.

Because a “best fit” line was used in my graph, I calculated the handicap required for each individual athlete to the nearest cm based on their 60m time to the nearest hundredth of a second.

At our latest AllStarFootRacing.com event, all 50 competitors submitted their 60m times and I handicapped each athlete using my spreadsheet.

The results showed that my handicap system worked very well. Theoretically, if all competitors ran to their season’s best form, all should have hit the finish line together in a time of 7 seconds dead. The results of the A and B finals were as follows:

A Final:

1st F Parker: 6.96s
2nd A Turnbull: 6.97s
3rd D Wilson: 6.98s
4th K Pease: 6.99s
5th S Bayou: 6.99s
6th J Capocci: 7.05s
7th R Savidis: 7.09s
8th H Carson: 7.11s

B Final:

1st L Smith: 6.91s
2nd M Bates: 6.98s
3rd G Fenwick: 7.03s
4th D Towart: 7.05s
5th P Donaghy: 7.07s
6th B Towart-Adams: 7.10s
7th A Manganiello: 7.10s
8th D Njai: 7.13s

Furthermore, my handicap calculation system allows an adjusted time to be derived showing the time each athlete theoretically would have achieved for the full 60m distance.

Again, using myself a an example, in this competition I was eliminated in the heats but ran a time of 7.10s. My adjusted time for the full 60m can be calculated by adding on the time it would have taken me to run the distance I was awarded as a handicap (6.69m). This time can be calculated by adding my actual time to my flying 1m time (1.07575/10) multiplied by 6.69m: 7.10 + (0.107575) x 6.69 = 7.82s. A week after this competition I ran a time of 7.81s at the UK Masters’ Championships, which shows that my adjusted times calculation is accurate.

See also  Bud Winter Biography, San Jose State University 1940-1970, Part 1

Limitations to my handicap model include the fact that younger athletes grow and can therefore improve dramatically on their season’s best form. If for instance, a 10 year old was to enter an AllStarFootRacing.com race, we would firstly derive his/her handicap based upon their season’s best time and then pull their mark back by maybe 1m if they haven’t competed for say 3 months.

I am planning on designing a more comprehensive spreadsheet to show the handicaps which should be awarded to each individual athlete for distances ranging from 50 to 400m.

At AllStarFootRacing.com, we believe that this system is the most accurate handicapping system out there because it is based on hard statistical data and gives marks accurate the nearest cm rather than the nearest 25cm or 50cm which is seen in most other handicapped sprint competitions around the world.

Category iconCoaching,  Track & Field

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}