AOA Orienteer of the Year (OY) series 2011
Introduction
The OY series is an annual competition of eight foot-orienteering events operated by the three Auckland clubs, Auckland (AK), Counties-Manukau (CM) and North West (NW). Competitors are awarded points for their result in each event and the best five are added together to obtain a series score. The points provide the data for an age class and a gender-course competition with certificates awarded to the winners in each.
Classes
There are courses suitable for all levels of experience and fitness. Courses are designed to cater for typical orienteers within the following age classes:
| Course | Age classes | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Red 1 | M21, M40 | Long and difficult |
| Red 2 | M18, M50 W21, W40 | Medium-long and difficult |
| Red 3 | M16, M60 W18, W50 | Medium-short and difficult |
| Red 4 | M70, M80 W16, W60, W70 | Short and difficult |
| Orange Long | M14, W14 | Intermediate in difficulty |
| Orange Short | M14, W14 | Intermediate in difficulty |
| Yellow | M12, W12 | Easy and for beginners |
| White | M10, W10 | Very easy - for children |
You may enter any course. You should choose a course that suits both your experience and fitness and with a length consistent with the time you wish to spend on the course. For example, if you are a fast, fit and skilled W50 then Red 2 is likely a better course choice than Red 3.
Straight line course lengths in kilometers and the climb in metres should be given in the event information to help you choose a suitable course.
Your age class
Your age at 31 December 2011 determines your age class. You enter in the age class in which you reach the designated age during the year. For example, M50 means a man of at least fifty years and less than 60 years in age on 31 December 2011.
Junior age classes are those below 21 years and the age means up to and including the age, for example, W16 means older than 14 years and up to and including 16 years.
Competitors aged 20 years and under may elect an older age grade up to and including 21. Competitors aged 40 years and over may elect a younger age class down to and including 21. Classes designated 21 are open to everyone.
If you wish to compete in an age class that is different from your actual age class then you should advise the OY statistician, John Powell, at dnf_dns11@xtra.co.nz or (09)238-8159.
You may compete in a course at an OY and have your result published without being part of the series competitions. If you do not wish to take part in the competition or there is an error in the age class in published results please advise the OY statistician.
OY points
The points you receive for a race are based on the course you enter and how well you did compared with the others in your course, hence people from the same age class may do different courses.
The weighting factors for the courses as shown in the table below are chosen to provide an incentive for you to attempt the longest and most difficult course you can manage as the higher up the table the greater your potential points score. The factors are calculated by comparing the median times of the common legs of the courses and by providing for differences in course length. That is, 20% faster on common legs then about 20% more points and 10% longer then 10% more points.
Those at the average time of a course will score the points equivalent to the weighting factor. The points above and below this are calculated taking into account the difference between your time and the average time, as well as the variance in the times.
The weighting factors for each course in 2011 are:
| Course | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Red 1 | 100 |
| Red 2 | 70 |
| Red 3 | 40 |
| Red 4 | 25 |
| Orange long | 20 |
| Orange short | 10 |
| Yellow | 7.5 |
| White | 5 |
Note that if you try a more difficult course (higher colour in the table) than your main course then you may receive less points than what you usually receive. This is because you have to learn a new set of skills and it takes time to develop them. If you enter in at least 5 events in your main course you will remain competitive in your class while providing opportunities for you to gain experience with a more difficult course.
The weighting factors may be adjusted during the series if they prove to be unsatisfactory and, if so, notification will be given at the first event using changed values.
A controller may void a course, that is, no points are awarded, or adjust the race-time of an individual, in appropriate circumstances.
The competitions
(a) Age class
The age classes are listed in a table above.
(b) Course-gender class
The course-gender classes are Red1M, Red1W, Red2M, Red2W, Red3M, Red3W,
Red4M, Red4W, Orange Long M, Orange Long W, Orange Short M, Orange Short W,
Yellow M, Yellow W, White M, White W
Your name and the points you receive at events are entered into the appropriate age and course-gender classes. You have to have at least 5 results in a class to be eligible for an award.
Eligibility
You must be a member of an orienteering club to be awarded OY points and you must be a member of an Auckland club to be eligible for a certificate or prize. Non-members may participate but will not receive OY points. You will not earn OY points in a second course you do at an event.
Any errors, omissions or queries regarding OY points awarded should be referred to the OY statistician.
Results
The event results will be published on the host club's website. OY points for the latest event and the cumulative totals for the series to date will be published on an OY website accessed by a link on your club website.
Start procedures
Pre-marked maps are used. Start procedures vary among the clubs so watch what goes on when you arrive at the start.
Technical Stuff
This section is for those with a statistical interest in how the points are calculated.
Course factors
Split times data for common legs amongst the courses from last year are used to get a speed comparison amongst the groups, and also factored in, are differences in course lengths. In short, if 10% faster then 10% more points and if 15% longer then 15% more points. The white, yellow and orange courses do not have common legs with each other. White is arbitrarily assigned a course factor of 5 and yellow 7.5 being midway between white's 5 and short orange's 10.
Formula
The points are calculated using the mean-standard deviation formula:
Points = course factor+[desired standard deviation*(course mean-run time)/course standard deviation)]
The target standard deviation chosen is 15 unless there are some exceptional circumstances. The formula awards the course factor in points to the person with the mean race time.
If there are so few entered in a course rendering a standard deviation somewhat meaningless then the median-proportional formula is used:
Points = course factor*median time/race time
Outliers
Outlier results are discarded when calculating the mean and standard deviation so that they do not distort the group statistics. A result is an outlier if it is clearly out of sequence with the preceding results and obviously not part of the group. The group is awarded points as if the outlier was not there and the outlier receives points correctly relative to the rest of the group.