Age Class Codes for
using Split Second’s Alpine Race Timing Software
Director of Race Services and Scoring,
This
document describes data entry conventions for encoding competitor age classes
in the Split Second Timing (SST) Alpine race timing for a
Alpine masters races in the
However, the simplest technique is to pick up the master FWM race entry data file that is available on the Race Services section of the FW masters web site. This SST race data file contains all current members of the Far West Masters, with their correct ages, age class, and bib numbers already entered.
For the 2003-2004 season, you should be using version 5.0 of the SST Alpine timing software. We recommend using the decade age class coding convention with this version of the SST software.
Table
1.
|
Start Order |
Start Order Code (*) |
Class Name |
Traditional Class Code |
Even-numbered National Class Code |
Decade Age Class Code |
|
1 |
A |
Women 80+ |
W80 |
13 |
80 |
|
2 |
B |
Men 80+ |
M80 |
13 |
80 |
|
3 |
C |
Women 70 |
W70 |
10 |
70 |
|
4 |
D |
Men 70 |
M70 |
10 |
70 |
|
5 |
E |
Women 60 |
W60 |
8 |
60 |
|
6 |
F |
Women 50 |
W50 |
6 |
50 |
|
7 |
G or GOP (**) |
Women Open |
WOP |
OP |
OP |
|
8 |
H |
Women 40 |
W40 |
4 |
40 |
|
9 |
I |
Women 30 |
W30 |
2 |
30 |
|
10 |
J |
Women 20 |
W20 |
1 |
20 |
|
11 |
K (+) |
Women 18-20 |
W18 |
0 |
18 |
|
12 |
KX (+) |
[women < 18] |
W00 |
0 |
00 |
|
13 |
L or LOP (++) |
Women Open (SG/DH) |
WOP |
OP |
OP |
|
14 |
M |
Men 60 |
M60 |
8 |
60 |
|
15 |
N |
Men 50 |
M50 |
6 |
50 |
|
16 |
O or OOP (**) |
Men Open |
MOP |
OP |
OP |
|
17 |
P |
Men 40 |
M40 |
4 |
40 |
|
18 |
Q |
Men 30 |
M30 |
2 |
30 |
|
19 |
R |
Men 20 |
M20 |
1 |
20 |
|
20 |
S (+) |
Men 18-20 |
M18 |
0 |
18 |
|
21 |
SX (+) |
[men < 18] |
M00 |
0 |
00 |
|
22 |
T or TOP (++) |
Men Open (SG/DH) |
MOP |
OP |
OP |
(*) The Start Order Code letter is a technique this is used for sorting the competitors into running order by class. It is not strictly necessary when using the Even-numbered National Class Code approach, since the standard Running Order By Class sort option in Split Second produces the correct class start sort order. However, it is useful with the Decade Age Class Code approach, as there is not a standard sort operation in Split Second which will sort the competitors into overall order by class when using the coding scheme. The start order code letter can be encoded in the Team/Area/Country field of a Master’s competitor entry. To sort the competitor list into class running order, simply select the Team sort option and use Ascending order.
(**) Open seed class is only used in the second run of a two-run technical event. The fastest N racers from the first run (5 women, 10 men) are placed into the special Open seed class for the second run, which starts after the 50’s and before the 40’s class in the start order.
(++) For a 1-run speed event (SG or DH), racers must elect whether they wish to compete in the Open class when they submit their race entry. The open seed start order for a speed event is that WOP runs at the end of all women’s classes (start order sort code LOP, following the W20 class), when MOP runs at the end of all men’s classes (start order sort code TOP, following the M20 class).
(+) we reserve start order slots for age classes 18-20 and under-18 competitors as classes W18/W00 and M18/M00, even though we don’t often have such “underage” racers competing with masters, which is defined as age 21 and up according the USSA Masters Competition Guide. We welcome these younger competitors, but in fairness to our regular masters competitors they are not eligible for masters age class awards or for the Open class.
ISSUE: Don’t like
suggesting multiple approaches here – much better to settle on one convention
and be done with it. However, the
tradeoffs between the two class coding schemes are not finalized yet – depends
on whether certain additional changes that have been suggested are made to the
Split Second masters features. The
discussion here is based on the Windows 3.05 version, released
mid-December. [DJL
There are basically two approaches that can be used for coding the 10-year FW masters age classes:
Option 1: Even-numbered
National Class Numbers
Use the 1,2,3… national age class numbers but use the even-number age class for both halves of a 10-year age range. E.g., use class 2 for both lower and upper halves of the 30’s age range, class 4 for both halves of the 40’s age range, etc.
Odd-numbered classes are used only for the youngest (class 1 – 20’s) and oldest (class 13 – 80’s) classes. (Note: class number 13 is used rather than class number 12 the 80’s because we want the 80’s men to start before the 70’s women and this is the easiest way to obtain this effect from the software.)
Option 2: Decade Age Class
Codes
Encode the class number using the decade age range: 20, 30, 40, …, 80.
Table 1 shows the complete class number coding for both of these approaches.
So which approach should you use? Basically, it depends on whether you’re entering competitors from scratch using the masters points list or working from the prototype race provided by the FW Masters which contains all registered competitors already properly coded. If you enter competitors directly, use the even-numbered national class code approach – this will provide you with correct age class start order sorting. The disadvantage is that the report titles will not have suitable titles for the age classes – the default class names reflect the 5-year national age classes and cannot currently be edited to a label which properly describes the FW class. If you work from the prototype race that you can download from the FW Masters web site, the start order code value is provided along with the decade age class codes so you can sort into class start order simply by doing an ascending sort on the Team field containing the order letter. Reasonable class names are generated on the reports on the report in this case.
Unless the Split Second software is modified to allow the class name that appears on reports to be edited, the decade age class code approach is probably preferable as long as you work from the prototype race data file supplied by FW Masters. (Otherwise you’d have to enter the start order code letter in the Team field manually when you enter competitors from the masters points list data, which is undesirable – we’re trying to get rid of all the extra manual steps to make this as simple as possible!)
Whichever technique you select, you should edit the Masters age class definitions in the Edit\Classes dialog to install the correct codes before entering or editing competitor data. This will allow the Split Second software to correctly fill in the correct age class when the competitor’s birth year is known.