What was your TTR?

So you've just smashed out a brilliant 10K time, working at your limit, and your club mate, who finished 10 minutes ago, looks fresh as a daisy, asks you the question, "How did it go? What was your time?"

Whatever you tell them, you know it's going to pale into insignificance compared to what they just achieved. Because they're younger, faster, and just a better all-round runner. The answer you give them is unlikely to impress them, and doesn't really portray just how pleased you are and how hard you worked.

Their time will blow your mind. How can someone run that race so fast? But for them, it may have fallen short of their target. We can't really tell. Until now.

It's time to stop asking club mates what time they ran, and instead ask, what was your TTR?

TTR? I know what you're thinking. What the hell is TTR? I made it up. It stands for Target Time Result.

I believe it gives a much better reflection of how you performed in that race, relative to your own ability, than the actual finish time ever can.

It will also give you a much better understanding of just how well your club mates or running friends performed. But how does TTR work?

Well, if you're signed up to Open Podium, and have done some races in recent months, our algorithm will take those results, along with the course elevation and terrain, to give you a target time.

When you cross the line, you can easily work out your TTR by deducting your target time from your chip time. Official TTR results will come out a day or two later, but you'll have a number you can give to your friends.

It offers a good comparison too. Some of your club mates might be 10, 15, crikey even 20 minutes faster than you, but was their TTR better?

So as soon as a friend or club mate tells you their TTR, you'll have a much better understanding of how to respond. Whereas with pure finish time, unless you know them well, and what times they normally run, it's hard to know what the right reaction is.

Those awkward moments when you say "brilliant time!", when really your mate is hugely disappointed. Or you totally underplay someone's performance with a subtle "well done" when they've just smashed their PB by 5 minutes.

So let's stop asking, post-race, what our finish time was. TTR is what we should be using to compare our performances, and bring much more equality to the running community.