If you haven’t heard by now, XTERRA revamped the points system for it’s various tours across the globe. I started writing a post about the new points system and before I knew it, the post was pages long, complete with a history lesson in the old rankings system. I came to my senses and realized you probably didn’t want to read that much and would prefer I just get to the meat of the matter. Well, here’s the meat. Believe it or not, this is the short version.
First, Kahuna Dave explained it very well in a short news release, but I want to cover a few points from an athlete’s perspective. Keep in mind that this is my opinion and for the purposes of this post, I am focusing on amateur athletes. Let’s start with the “WHY”.
Simplify: The old point system had some cool aspects to it. It made for an interesting race season and you definitely needed to put some strategy into it. But, that’s also its downfall. It was complicated (more about that later).
Standardize: The point system we had here in the U.S. for the America tour differed from the other tours around the globe. This was AMPLIFIED with the introduction to the Pan America Tour for 2016. You had two points series with differing rules which encompassed some of the same races. Having the same rules makes it easier for folks that want to compete in multiple tours.
More competition: This reason is not the quickest and easiest to explain. Some of you may even argue with me on this one, but when the rubber meets the dirt, it results in more competition. Allow me to explain by getting into the “HOW”.
What HASN’T changed is the basic premise behind the points system, within the America tour, is to become a regional champion within your respective age group. The other tours aren’t broken down into regions, so each age group encompasses the entire tour. So for the purposes of explanation, we’ll just say “champion”. You still race against others within your age group and in order for you to become a champion, you have to end the season with the most points in your age group. That part hasn’t changed. Becoming a champion is also one way to qualify for the XTERRA World Championships. That’s still the same as well.
The other part that HASN’T changed is how points are awarded. Some races have the designation of a “Gold” race while others have a designation of “Silver”. Gold races have a 100 point value, so if you win your age group at a gold race you will receive 100 points. Silver races have a 75 point value if you win. From there, it goes down in points as your placement goes down and points are awarded down to 15th place.
In the past, under old rules, you only counted your top 4 races. This means that you could race as much as you wanted, but only the top four counted towards the points. Another old rule was that if you raced more than one Gold race, you could only count one of them at the 100 point value. For example, if you won your age group at one Gold race and three Silver races, you’d max out at 325 points (100+75+75+75). That’s the most you could earn. Period.
So how does this equal more competition? The downside to only counting the top 4 races meant that someone could “lock up” the regional title early in the year, effectively shutting out anyone else from having a shot at the title. Under the new rules, the most points wins. Race as much as you want, and ALL points count. Furthermore, there’s no cap on the Gold races. In the U.S. there are currently only two Gold races. Race them both, and if you win your age group (at both), you get 200 points. By not limiting the number of races that count, this effectively puts more people in the running to become champions and keeps the competition going all season long. If you think about it, the premise is that anyone can get to the top. It’s not just about the fastest anymore. Granted, being a fast racer will definitely help, but you also have to be loyal. If the fastest racer only does 4 races, but someone who’s not far behind him does 6 races, guess who might come out on top.
Some folks are quick to say that this favors the ones with the deepest wallets, meaning, as long as you shell out enough cash to race a ton of races, you don’t have to be fast. I can see how some may perceive it that way, especially if you are on a very limited budget. While this definitely has different implications for pros, who are racing for dough, for amateurs, it’s really just about a title and Maui slots. They would go on further to say that it doesn’t guarantee the fastest athletes get those Maui slots and go to Worlds. This is just not true. Maui slots are awarded at Gold races for the fastest athletes and overseas this is also true for Silver races, so you still have a chance at Maui without winning the champion spot. And, at the end of the day, the fastest athletes will be crowned World Champs.
I really think this is a good thing. Although I liked being able to pick the races I wanted, knowing it only took 4 really good races to secure a champ spot, having it be unlimited points adds another level of interest to the points series and puts anyone in the running. Now, time for a new strategy.
See you on the trails. As always, continue to be a Warrior!
Marcus
Filed under: Racing, Triathlon | Tagged: Points, Racing, Triathalon, XTERRA | 4 Comments »
