CALCULATION OF USARA RANKINGS

Overview
The USARA National Points Series provides an ongoing ranking of teams across the country, based on their race results at USARA-affiliated and USARA-sanctioned events. The calendar of included races is published and updated throughout the season.

Rankings are computed for eight divisions:

  • Mixed Gender: 2 & 3/4-person team

  • Female: Solo, 2-person, & 3/4-person team

  • Male: Solo, 2-person, & 3/4-person team

The top teams in the 3/4-person team divisions of the National Points Series will be announced at the USARA National Championships. A rolling 12-month ranking for 3/4-person teams may also be used to seed a waiting list in the event Nationals is at capacity leading up to the event.

There is no need to register for the series. All teams competing in affiliated and sanctioned events are automatically included in the rankings. Race Directors should use this Excel spreadsheet to submit results for the National Points Series.

National Points Series Rules

  1. Teams will score points for their top five finishes of the year, based on rankings calculation (see more below). The National Championship is an additional sixth event, if the team has already participated in five events.

  2. A team consists of up to eight different racers racing under the same team name for a given season. If the eight-member limit is exceeded, the team must indicate the eight racers for points calculation.

  3. Rankings will be calculated monthly, typically during the first week.

  4. A tie in a race will result in splitting of the 2 positions points equally

  5. A team can appeal rankings or request changes by emailing USARA.

  6. A “Team” for the purposes of rankings, is determined by the exact team name used on the entry list for the race:

    • This means “Team ABC” “Team ABCD” “Team ABC1” “Team ABC2” though similar are considered different teams.

    • Team names cannot be changed after the fact.

    • A Team cannot be represented by multiple entries in the same race.

  7. Results for Teams are determined by which USARA division they would fall into.

    • Example: some races may put 2-person and 3-person teams together in the same category for their race/awards. Those teams will be split into their separate USARA divisions: 2-person & 3/4-person, for USARA ranking purposes.

    • Points are applied by the division competed in. If “Team ABC” competes in one race as a 2-person, and another race as a 3-person; the team will show up in both divisions’ rankings with their results applying to each division separately.

  8. Soloists - Although some races require soloists to create a ‘team name’ upon registration, rankings will score soloists simply by their fist/last name.

  1. Rankings Calculation
    Points are determined using a sliding scale (standard distribution) dependent on the published length of the race.

  • <= 7 hours: 1st = 25 points

  • 8-15 hours: 1st = 50 point

  • 16-36 hours: 1st = 100 points

  • 37-72 hours: 1st = 125 points

  • > 72 hours: 1st = 150 points


The National Championship will include a bonus of 50 points. Regional Qualifiers will also include points bonuses.

Teams are then awarded points based on their OVERALL finish in the race (regardless of division) based on the logarithmic distribution:

Team_Points = Max_Points_For_Race_Length * (1 - LN(Team_Finish_Place) * 0.24)

Any team that finishes the race gets a minimum of 2 points. DNFs get 1 point.

See point distributions in image on right >>>

The following is a list of adventure races in the U.S., with status of results and USARA sanctioning.

Race Directors, please use THIS TEMPLATE to send your results in. Email to: results (at) usara.com