2023 PA MUT Grand Prix: back to the old normal?

Et voilà, with the 2022 MUT Grand Prix over after the Ruth Anderson Memorial Runs (see the wrap-up), 3 weeks ago, and the start of the registrations for 2023 ultra races, it's time to confirm the 2023 schedule. Some of you might have heard about some key dates, either through your team captains whom I polled to decide between two options for June, or if you are following our Grand Prix news on Facebook. This time, it's official, and even published on the PAUSATF.org website (and you don't want to hear about the fun of editing these pages... Although if someone wants to volunteer... you know where to find me! :-) ).

A few comments about this schedule.

1. First and foremost, it will look like almost back to normal to those who have participated in out MUT Grand Prix during one or several of the 25 years before the pandemic. Per the title, an attempt to pretend we are back to the old normal!
2. Yet, we continue the tricky stretching exercise of balancing tradition and novelty. Balancing the mix of ultras with sub ultra distances. The mix of trail and road formats. And a geographical diversity to bring opportunities to our communities from Reno in the North East, and not quite yet to San Luis Obispo on the South West, but San Jose at least.
3. 15 events overall, 16 team scoring opportunities with the traditional dual distance at Ruth Anderson: 10/11 ultras and 5 sub ultras.
4. From a geographical balance, with Mount Diablo in the middle, we have 4 in the North West area which I hope the Sacramento/Auburn/Reno community will take advantage to score big at the beginning of the season. Counting on Buffalo Chips, GVH and RC Rebels in particular!
5. On the novelty side: CTR's Crystal Springs Half in January and ITR's Knickerbocker 35K in March. And the return of STR's FOURmidable in February as well as Tamalpa's Headlands 50K at a date to be confirmed in the summer. And CTR's SF One Day 24-hour in June (a short call between that option and Cool Moon 100, after polling the team/club captains).

For the 2024 season, the LDR committee advised the following:

1. Like for the Road Grand Prix, consider having a short and long series. In our case, that could be sub-ultra (Mountain and Trail) and ultra.
2. Especially for the shorter series, aim at avoiding conflicts with road and cross-country races, in order to draw participation from these two communities.

Some additional nightmarish constraints to take into account, but worth taking into account to draw more participants.

On the rules side, some clarification on the age group payouts. For 25 years, they have been determined on an ad hoc basis by the MUT Chair. Here is what I'm going to propose to the LDR committee to formalize the process and make it more systematic and predictable. These are the rules I used for the 2021 payouts, which was a year with low participation given the pandemic. If you are into legal or mathematical rules, it might appear a bit complex. But at least it makes the exercise deterministic. Ironically, this might have to revisit if we go with sub series. Or we keep the payout for the combined/global MUT series, and plaques-only for the sub series. To be discussed (leave a comment below, or on Facebook, or contact/message me directly).

Proposition for the calculation of the age group payouts (2022 and beyond):

1. Need at least 3 scores to be eligible for any award (plaque, monetary, title); if not, award goes to the next eligible
2. For one age group, 1 award per 10 age group participants, rounded up (e.g., if 15 participants, 2 awards, if 22, 3)
3. Within each age group, eligible participants are sorted by number of points; their rank determine a potential award amount (see table below); same potential amount across gender
4. If the sum of the awards is higher than the alloted pool of money, all awards are pro-rated by the ratio between the alloted pool of money (Pacific Association LDR) divided by the sum of the computed awards
5. i.e. sum of potential awards = $6,000 and the LDR-attributed pool = $3,000, then all awards are multiplied by a 0.5 ratio

with the following table:

Rank	Potential amount	Notes
1	$200
2	$150
3	$110
4	$80
5	$60
6	$50
7	$40
8	$30	8 and/or more if more than 80 participants in one age group

Or graph:

Again, it's close to what the MUT Chairs were doing anyway, but feedback welcome. Also, keep in mind the overall pool is limited ($3,000 for 2022 and 2023) so the potential amounts aren't guaranteed.

Let me conclude with the nice reminder which a few Pamakids members shared at Ruth Anderson: this isn't about the money, not about the plaque, but the team spirit and support, and sane emulation! Spot on and, with that, best wishes to all for an outstanding 2023 season, with as much fun as possible as we get back to our good ol' normal!