Dont run stats with bad data wrote:
Speed ratings must and always have taken into account past performances both of the runner and for the course... if the conditions of the course change or the course itself changes then the validity of the rating comes into question... especially if you have very few runners of known ability from other teams as a comparison
Speed Rating = (1560 - (actual race time in seconds) - (race correction)) / 3
Because speedratings are determined by a relatively subjective measure of "race correction" these speed ratings are not completely accurate, unless the poster can reveal his corrections (which there appear to be none). Also... speed ratings were designed for a race of 5k... the 1560 is a zero point of 26:00 min converted to seconds for a 5k from which the athlete's actual performance is subtracted. So again, not sure how this poster calculated the speed rating...
Reference this here under determining race corrections, in particular, the 2nd method:
http://tullyrunners.com/Data/Articles/EarlySeasonSpeed.htmI question the oberlin (out of region, altered course) and geneseo invite (no competition on an altered course from recent years) speed ratings because of the alterations to the course and the conditions of the courses compared to recent years so the method of looking at the mean difference as a adjustment needs to be applied.
I will get to Oberlin and Geneseo in a bit. The way i do them is with the formula above, converted for a 8k. I converted a 26 minute 5k to a 42:30 8k. So if you run 42:30, you get zero points. With the formula used by tullyrunners, 3 is used as the denominator because most races are around 3 miles. This is where mine changed it a bit. Since men run anywhere from 5k to 8k. My denominator is the race distance in miles. So for a 8k, it is 4.97. For every 4.97 seconds under 42:30 you get a point, plus or minus the course correction. In the first tab of the spreadsheet, I give the unadjusted points for a 8k and 6k.
Both Oberlin and Geneseo did change their courses this year. In races where there was little competition or sample size, I did go back to prior years. First Oberlin, There was a huge sample size to look at with this race(89 region runners). Since it was fair weather, course conditions did not change for the Open or Invite race. Everyone in the region had the same conditions Geneseo and NYU had. If you look at other schools who ran Oberlin, Buff State Brockport RIT, there were no excessively high speed ratings relative to their other race performances. Everyone got the same course adjustment. I expect there to be improvement in a team speed rating as the year goes on.
Geneseo invite was tougher because there was a limited sample and new course. One team who was at Geneseo and I was able to compare with other courses is St. John Fisher. There were no excessive speed ratings or jumps for Fisher.
Oberlin and Geneseo are both two fast courses. I adjusted the times to take that into account. I believe i was very fair in looking at every course. I stand by the work I did.