How the RunRepublic Handicap works

One number, lower is better. It lets a 55-year-old and a 25-year-old be ranked fairly — because raw finish times can’t.

Age-grading — the fairness engine

Age-grading compares your time to the world standard for your exact age and gender. A 50-year-old running 18:00 for 5K and a 25-year-old running about 16:15 are performing at roughly the same level — around 80%. We use the WMA / USATF road age-grading factors, the same tables used across the sport.

• ~60% — solid club runner
• 70% — a good regional standard
• 80% — county / regional class
• 90%+ — national / elite

World Athletics points — the sharp end

To separate the very best performances, we also score each run on the official World Athletics tables (time → points). This adds resolution where age-grades bunch up near the top.

The merged Handicap

Your handicap blends the two — 85% age-grade, 15% World Athletics points — into a single golf-style number where lower is better and roughly zero means world-class for your age. Your best performance at each distance sets your handicap there.

Your position — private by design

Your ranking is about you. You see where you sit and exactly what it takes to move — “34th in Dublin · run 7 seconds faster to move up a place · 3 seconds ahead of the place below.” Those gaps are worked out for your age, so they’re real targets. We never show you the names of the runners immediately above or below you. Other runners’ names appear only if they’ve chosen to make their profile public.

County, province & national

You’re ranked at three levels — your county, your province, and all of Ireland — so you can see where you stand locally and nationally.

Getting ranked

Claim your results and add your date of birth (used only to age-grade your runs). That’s it — your handicap and rankings build automatically from every race you claim.

Distances scored: mile, 5K, 5 mile, 10K, 10 mile, half marathon and marathon. Times are chip where available.