Cutoffs are the topic of much conversation around the trail and ultra world, never more so than on race day when you’re running up against them. So let’s talk about them; why we have them, how they’re configured, and the liberties some races take to make them more “challenging” than is possibly necessary.
What is a cut-off?
The cut-off is the total time one has to complete the distance they start. The main cut-off being that of the “Final” cut-off, depicted as both the time of day you must complete your run by and/or the total amount of time one has to complete the challenge. If a 50k starts at 8am and you have until 5pm to complete it, your final cut-off can be written as 5pm and/or 9 hours.
Then there are mid-race cut-offs. These cut-offs occur at various aid stations along the route. They are set based on the total time you have to complete the course and are designed to keep you moving along the course; or terminating your day in the event you are not keeping up with the slowest allowable pace to accomplish the task.
Why do we have cut-offs?
Because we don’t have all day.
Okay, okay, but seriously… because we don’t have all day. When race directors apply for permits for our events, we must specify the exact period of time we intend to use the resource/property for our event. Our events have a specific start time and end time. We often times also have to provide a detailed event schedule that highlights cut-offs times. The insurance policy, that we are required to have as a condition of our permits, also has a specified frame of time that we will be insured for.
There could be other reasons why we have cut-offs, and those are important to understand as well. Cut-offs are also mindful of volunteer needs/shifts, and ensuring that volunteers can leave their post at a reasonable time. Cut-offs determine when the course sweeps can begin doing their work, so that once the event ends we can vacate the premises in a timely manner.
Cut-offs can also be set in such a way to guarantee that participants in the race have vacated the premises in time for the land’s closing.Let’s say a race traverses through the lands of four different land managers (USFS, Water Board, County Gov, and State Park); and some of those entities have specific hours where their lands are open for use by the public and/or special events, and hours where they are not open for use.Sometimes the land manager gives us permission to use a specific trail for our event, but they mandate that we be off specific segments of the trail by a predetermined time of day to make way for other trail users; like the public who may typically use the trail on a busy Saturday.
How are cut-offs configured?
Step 1
Again, the first thing we do is determine the total amount of time we wish to provide participants to complete the challenge at hand. This varies across all races and series in our sport. Some races truly focus on “the race” and the essence of “competition.” Others truly do set them based on the total amount of time we’re willing to be out there in affording you the opportunity to adventure, or FAAFO. Some races/series, are somewhere in the middle. All ways of doing it are okay, welcomed, and a part of our sports culture. It’s important to note that this is not a “one size fits all” item and there is no industry standard.
We use the old pace calculator from the now defunct website Coolrunning.com. This calculator is available online at: https://a.atmos.washington.edu/~ovens/racepace.html
In using this calculator, we first input the total amount of time one has to complete the task as an official finisher. In the example of 9 hours for a 50k-ish run, that would be 8 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds.
We then input the total miles of the race, for this example we used 32 miles.
Then we click on the “Calculate Pace” button, which shows us that in order to cover the 32 miles in 8:59:59 one must average a slowest pace of 16:52
Yes, it should be noted that any discrepancy in the total miles of the event will affect the calculated pace. For example, if the course ends up being 1 mile shorter, the average pace required to finish within the cut-off changes to 17:25, a difference of 33 seconds per mile (33 seconds x 31 miles = 17.05 minutes). If the course ends up being a mile longer than advertised, the average pace required to finish within the cut-off changes to 16:21, a difference of 31 seconds per mile (31 seconds x 33 miles = 17.05 minutes). This is to say that should the advertised distance differ from the actual distance of the course by 1 mile on either side (+/-), you will either have 17 more minutes to complete the challenge (if shorter), or 17 fewer minutes to complete the challenge (if longer). In other words, it’s better to have some wiggle room than to be playing around with the cut-offs.
Step 2
The next thing we do is determine the mileage at each aid station stop along the course. Why aid stations? Because these are the only places that a runner should ever withdraw from an event. With this in mind, we also try and establish cut-offs at aid stations where crews are allowed and/or at aid stations that are most easily accessible by vehicle to have volunteers or race staff transport runners to the finish area in the event that a cut-off is not met. Aid stations where there is a considerable effort to reach the station due to navigationally or technically challenging roads are not ideal places to have a cut-off.
As an example, let’s use round numbers with the distance and pace we calculated previously.
| Aid Station Number | Total Miles Into Event | Cut-off time based on Pace |
| 1 | 6 | |
| 2 | 10 | 2:48:45 |
| 3 | 15 | |
| 4 | 21 | 5:54:22 |
| 5 | 26 | 7:18:44 |
| Finish | 32 | 8:59:59 |
What we typically do is go back to the online Pace Calculator that we used to determine the overall slowest possible pace. With the average pace left present on the calculator, we’ll input the total distance at aid stations with the cut-off, then click “Calculate Time.” The calculator will then show us the latest possible time someone must be at that distance based on the slowest average pace.
In the image above, we used aid station #2, 10-miles in, as the first station with a cut-off. At our slowest average pace, runners must be through that station no later than 2:48:45 into the race to be on pace to finish in time of the final cut-off. If you were to make it to the aid station at mile 10 at 2:49:00, you would be behind the slowest pace mathematically possible to complete the challenge in time and you would be cut from the event. We repeat this process for each aid station with a cut-off.
Step 3
Adjustments
Once these times are figured out, adjustments are made based on a variety of factors, some of which we’ve already discussed.
• Perhaps the race director needs to move the field along to get them through an area by a specific time as a condition of the permit.
• Attrition is also considered. This means that earlier cut-offs may be set at a pace much faster than the slowest possible pace required to complete the event in time, knowing that as participants move along the course, you will experience some level of attrition that ultimately slows your overall pace. Yes, negative splits are possible and do happen, but they are not something that we collectively consider as “frequent.”
• Terrain is considered as well. Perhaps the RD is gracious enough to consider the mountain you just went up and over, and how much time that might take you, prior to a nice long rolling segment of course. The first cut-off after going over the mountain may look “gracious”, but then the next requires you to pick-up the pace to get back “ahead of schedule.”
• Risk Management is a factor. Here in Colorado we tend to set our start times, and our cut-offs, based on our need to get you through specific areas due to typical afternoon storms. If we don’t want you on an exposed ridge line in the middle of the afternoon during monsoon season, we’re going to set the cut-offs in a way that forces you to pick-up the pace to get through those areas before things become electric.
• Historical Data is also a factor. Once a race has occurred over 2-3 years, race directors can collect data from each aid station and determine when the last runner left a specific station (within the cut-off) and ultimately finished the race (within the cut-off). Historical data is good at being a guideline for future adjustments. If an aid station has a cut-off of 2pm, and no one has ever finished the event having left later than 1:15pm, the cut-off may be adjusted to 1:15pm in the future.
Then of course there’s the “controversial” take… some races do indeed set ridiculously fast or tight cut-offs for any number of reasons. Those reasons may include:
• They don’t want to have to feed you later in the event. It’s cheaper if they don’t. Setting tough cut-offs eliminates a huge swath of the field.
• It’s cheaper for them to have to give out fewer awards if a percentage of the field never makes it.
• They may not have enough volunteers to work long shifts or an aid station that is open considerably longer than others. So they wipe out the back of the pack to pick up the overall pace of the field, allowing them to close the latter stations earlier.
• Some RDs prioritize the front of the pack and they want their event to be a “race” within every essence of the word. Some RDs are also current or former elite/professional athletes who believe most of us should perform at a much higher level than we actually do.
• They want to increase the level of difficulty present at their event.
• They want you to come back again. In other words, if you miss a cut-off and DNF, they can rely on you registering next year to settle the score.
What If You Miss A Cut-Off?
Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who never chases a cut-off and/or who never misses one. Generally speaking, before long most of us are going to miss a cut-off at a race, and for any number of reasons. So, what happens if/or when you do?
If you miss a cut-off in an event, it is imperative that you listen to the direction of the race director(s) or any volunteer(s) who may be acting on their behalf. If you miss a cut-off, your day is done. Take a seat in the aid station you’re at and enjoy some food and drink before being transported back to the finish line. If you missed the cut-off at a station where crews are not welcome, you may be waiting awhile for a ride. A ride may come from other volunteers, race staff, or the aid station staff present once they load the aid station supplies into their vehicle. It is not unusual for you to have to wait a few hours (or many hours) for a ride. If crews are welcome, you may hop right into the vehicle of your crew. If you don’t have a crew, sometimes you can ask someone else’s crew to give you a lift.
It is key that we all remember why cut-offs may be in place. Again, it’s not always total time based and can be based on land manager regulations, insurance requirements, wildlife considerations or more. Cut-offs are always published prior to the event. It is seldom that a race changes cut-offs in the days leading up to an event or even on event day (seldom but not never). Some races give participants medical/admissions wrist bands, and once you miss the cut-off, your wrist band is cut, and you are no longer permitted to proceed. Some races may take your bib away from you signifying the end of your day.
It is easy to believe that you may indeed have a chance to finish an event mathematically speaking. This is where you do your “runner math” as an attempt to plead your case and convince the RD or volunteers into ignoring the cut-offs and allowing you to proceed. We hate to say it but this is incredibly selfish.
“BUT IT’S PUBLIC LAND!” Be careful with this. Remember that some courses may indeed cross multiple land manager jurisdictions and there may indeed be hours of operation in place (like in a state park). If you’re running a course that is on private property, the RD does indeed have liberty to excuse you from the event and remove you from the premises. Most races take place on Federal Land that is always open, and this is when runner’s really get into the weeds about their ability to continue their run on public land on their own accord or not.
Some races may indeed have a waiver ready for these exact circumstances. If a runner wants to continue on their own accord, they will hand in their bib and sign a waiver that releases the race director and event from any and all risk and liability associated with you continuing on your own. This means you should no longer expect the support of aid stations, a finish line to be present should you indeed complete the course, and course markings may or may not remain present for you to follow. Even if by some miracle you agree to sign the waiver and continue on your own and you just so happen to once again get ahead of the cut-offs… this is not license for you to jump back into the race.
Even if you do sign a waiver and continue on your own, should anything happen to you where emergency services are required, you still put the race director and event at risk of tarnishing their reputation. You can adversely affect their ability to obtain permits in the future or sully their relationship with land managers and local EMS. We get it, you trained hard and sacrificed much, maybe even flew a friend in to pace you… and it wasn’t your day. It’s okay to walk away and live to run another day. It is critical that you do your part to ensure you follow the rules of the event, rules that you agreed to upon completing your registration. Our permits, our insurance, our reputation, our risk and liability… our rules.
Missing a cut-off certainly sucks. It can be heart wrenching. Those cut-offs are there for a reason and have been well thought out (9 times out of 10). Do your homework prior to registering for an event. Make sure you know what the cut-offs are and determine if you really think you can make them. If you’re looking at a race and you’ve determined that there is no way you’ll make the cut-offs, that race may not be for you. In general, a lot of races in our sport are moving more towards increased accessibility and inclusivity by making cut-offs later. We recognize that the average pace for the mid and back of the pack is slowing down. “The Race” is no longer the focus of 80% of the field or more, the experience and adventure is. There’s a race out there for everyone. Choose wisely!