How we rate
How we rate toughness
Every race gets four scores from 1 to 5. Each score has a written basis on the race page with the figures and sources behind it. This page is the method.
Toughness is not one thing. A 90 km ski race is long but on a groomed track; a 20 km fell run is short but steep and cold; a swimrun is a day of transitions in cold water. So we rate four things separately and never blend them into one number.
Researchers propose scores with their inputs; an editor sets the final score against the scales below. The scores follow the method, not the race’s reputation: a famous race on an easy course gets a low terrain score, and the page says where the real difficulty is.
Duration
How long will a mid-pack finisher be out there?
What goes in
The median or mid-pack finishing time of the main distance in the latest edition, from the official results. Where no results are published, the organiser’s stated typical time or the distance and climb against comparable races.
The scale
- Short: under 1 hour
- Half-day: 1 to 2.5 hours
- Long day: 2.5 to 5 hours
- Very long: 5 to 10 hours
- Epic: over 10 hours, or more than one day
Terrain
How hard is the ground, the water or the course itself?
What goes in
Surface, technical difficulty, climb per kilometre, exposure, obstacles, open water and transitions, from the organiser’s course description, the course profile and race reports.
The scale
- Flat: flat road, track or groomed trail
- Rolling: rolling road, gravel or easy forest trail
- Rough: proper trail with climbs, forest, mixed surface, or groomed ski track over distance
- Mountain: mountain and fell terrain, technical trail, open water, obstacle courses
- Extreme: alpine or arctic terrain, exposed ridges, ice, or a combination that needs mountain or water skills
Cold
How cold and exposed will you be?
What goes in
The season and the climate of the course, the normal temperatures and wind at race time, water temperatures for swims, and what the organiser requires or recommends for clothing.
The scale
- Mild: summer, mild, no cold risk
- Cool: cool season or rain likely; a layer in the bag
- Cold: cold season, or cold water with a wetsuit
- Winter: winter, below freezing likely, or water around 10 °C or less
- Arctic: deep winter or arctic exposure: well below freezing, ice swimming, or a mountain in the cold season
Cut-offs
How hard is it to get in and to be allowed to finish?
What goes in
Cut-off times against the mid-pack time, qualification standards, seeding, lotteries, and the share of starters who do not finish, from the rules and the results.
The scale
- Open: no cut-offs, or so generous that walkers finish
- Generous: generous cut-offs that only the slowest meet
- Watch them: cut-offs a slow finisher must watch, or entries that sell out within days
- Tight: tight cut-offs, a high DNF rate, or seeding and a lottery to get in
- Qualify: a qualifying standard or selection, and cut-offs that stop a fair share of the field
How we apply it
Duration uses the median finishing time from the official results of the main distance. Where an organiser publishes no results, we use the typical time they state or a comparable race, and the basis says so.
Terrain is scored on the course, not on how it feels. Climb per kilometre, surface and technical sections come from the organiser’s profile and description, checked against race reports.
Cold is scored for the normal conditions at race time, not for the worst year. A summer mountain race with a mandatory jacket is a 3; a March ski race in Dalarna is a 4; an ice swim is a 5.
Cut-offs combine getting in and getting to the finish. A race that sells out within a day of entries opening is at least a 3 even with no cut-offs on the course. A qualification standard or a selection is a 5.
The ranking orders every race by duration, then terrain, then cold, then cut-offs. Races equal on all four share a place. We do not add the four up, because a long flat race and a short extreme one are not the same thing.