The Battle of Ohio Triathlon & Duathlon Series (BOOTS) kicks-off its inaugural season in May 2007.  With six events and multiple distances within each event there is an event for everyone throughout Ohio. BOOTS is open to all athletes, but is designed to welcome beginner and novice athletes.  With smaller swim waves or time trial starts, beginner friendly courses and an emphasis on fun, the BOOTS events are a great way to for the elite athlete to compete against the best, experienced athlete to continue to challenge themselves, and for the beginner athlete an introduction to the sport of triathlon in an inviting and family-oriented event atmosphere. 

What is Triathlon? Triathlon is a combination of swimming, biking, and running, in that order. These events are placed back-to-back in immediate sequence and your time to complete each sequence is accumulated along with the time required to "transition" between the individual legs of the race, including any time necessary for changing clothes and shoes, to determine your “official” time.

What is Duathlon? Duathlon is similar to triathlon except the event sequence is running, biking, and running. A participant’s time is accumulated in the same manner as triathlon.

Battle of Ohio Triathlon & Duathlon Series Events:

May 26 – Vineyard LiveWell Triathlon (sprint triathlon only)
June 10 – Cincinnati International Triathlon & Sports Festival
June 24 – Fat Rabbit Racing International Triathlon & Duathlon
July 22 – Columbus International Triathlon & Sports Festival
August 19 – Great Lake Escape Triathlon
September 30 – Powerman Ohio & Mohican Valley Duathlon

Series Distances (all distances are average, actual event distance may vary):

            Sprint triathlon -0.5 mi swim/15 mi bike/3.1 mi run
            Sprint duathlon – 3.1 mi run/15 mi bike/3.1 mi run
            International triathlon – 1.5K swim/40K bike/10K run
            International duathlon – 5K run/40K bike/10K run

All BOOTS races are USA Triathlon sanctioned.

Series Scoring, Categories and Divisions

Rules and Award Eligibility:

• To be eligible for series awards, participants must enter a minimum of 3 events in the same distance category and event type as an individual in any category. Participating as part of a relay team does not count as an eligible event.
• Participants who compete in all 4 series events will use their top 3 scores for computing points. However, participants who complete all 4 series events will result in a +0.01 weight factor added to their best scored event.
• The scoring system automatically selects an individual's top 3 scores.
• Participant must purchase the series package or indicate their participation in the series prior to participation in their 2nd event. No exceptions.

·         All participants’ ages will be set as their age on December 31, 2007 to remain in line with the USAT "Age up" rule. For series scoring purposes, they will be considered that age for the entire year, regardless of when their birthday is.

 EXAMPLE: Joe Rabbit enters the first international distance triathlon – the Cincinnati International Triathlon on June 10. Joe is 34 on event date but will be turning 35 in August. At all races, Joe Rabbit will compete in the 35-39 age group for individual race awards and for series scoring purposes.

·         Wetsuit Rule: USAT rules state that competitors may wear wetsuits if the water temperature is 78 degrees or lower. USAT rules also state that if the water temperature is between 79 - 83 degrees, competitors may wear wetsuits but will not be eligible for awards. If the water temperature is 84 degrees or above, participants may not wear wetsuits. For series scoring purposes, this will also be the case for computing series points. In other words, if the water temperature is between 79 - 83 degrees and you elect to wear a wetsuit - you will officially receive "0" points for that race. The race will count towards the minimum of 3 races required for awards.

Series Scoring:

Event weights for 2007 will be roughly based on criteria established by USA Triathlon for the purpose of administering their national rankings system. For Fat Rabbit Racing events, weight will be based on distance and size of event. The event weight index will be used to calculate scores for all participants (See Scoring below).

Event Weight Classification Table
Event Distance	Distance Factor	Depth of Field Factor (100-200 + finishers in 2006)	Depth of Field Factor (200+ finishers in 2006)
Sprint Triathlon	0.90	0.91	0.92
Sprint Duathlon	0.90	0.91	0.92
International Triathlon	0.92	0.93	0.94
International Duathlon	0.92	0.93	0.94
New Event/Championship	+ 0.02

Event Groupings
International Triathlon Group	Sprint Triathlon Group	International Duathlon Group	Sprint Duathlon Group
Cincinnati Int’l Triathlon	Vineyard LiveWell Triathlon	Cincinnati Int’l Duathlon	Cincinnati Sprint Duathlon
FRR Int’l Triathlon	Cincinnati Sprint Triathlon	FRR Int’l Duathlon	FRR Sprint Duathlon
Columbus Int’l Triathlon	FRR Sprint Triathlon	Columbus Int’l Duathlon	Columbus Sprint Duathlon
Great Lake Escape Triathlon	Columbus Sprint  Triathlon	Powerman Ohio	Mohican Valley Duathlon

Based on the above formula the event weights for the 2007 Fat Rabbit Racing events will be as follows:

2007 FRR Event Weights
Event	Event Weight
Vineyard Sprint Tri	0.90
Cincinnati Int’l Tri/Du	0.95
Cincinnati Sprint Tri/Du	0.93
FRR Int’l Triathlon	0.93
FRR Int’l Duathlon	0.92
FRR Sprint Triathlon	0.91
FRR Sprint Duathlon	0.90
Columbus Int’l Triathlon	0.94
Columbus Int’l Duathlon	0.92
Columbus Sprint Triathlon	0.92
Columbus Sprint Duathlon	0.90
Great Lake Escape Triathlon	0.93
Powerman Ohio	0.94
Mohican Valley Duathlon	0.90

Event Scoring Details

• The top five men's finish times will be used to create an average time that all men's finish times will be divided into. The top five women's finish times will be used to create an average time that all women's finish times are divided into.
• All male participants' finish times will be divided into this average male "base" time to create raw scores. (same for females)

Series Scoring Example

Example scoring (times are not from any specific FRR event)

• The five lowest men's times are:

1. 1:02:33 or 3753 seconds
2. 1:02:48 or 3768 seconds
3. 1:03:15 or 3795 seconds
4. 1:03:21 or 3801 seconds
5. 1:03:30 or 3810 seconds

• The male base time becomes 1:03:09 (the average of the five)
• All male times are divided into 1:03:09
• The winner of the event ( 1:02:33) receives a base score of 1.0087 ( 1:02:33 divided into 1:03:09)
• The fifth place finisher ( 1:03:30) receives a base score of .9936 ( 1:03:30 divided into 1:03:09)
• The base score is then multiplied by the event weight index for that particular event (see event weight index).
• For purposes of this example, this event has a weight index of 0.93
• The winner of the event would receive a score of .9381 (1.0087 X .93)
• This same method would be repeated to calculate women's scores.

Series Awards

International Tri			International Du			Sprint Tri			Sprint DU
Place	Male	Female	Place	Male	Female	Place	Male	Female	Place	Male	Female
1st Place	$400	$400	1st Place	$400	$400	1st Place	$200	$200	1st Place	$200	$200
2nd Place	$250	$250	2nd Place	$250	$250	2nd Place	$100	$100	2nd Place	$100	$100
3rd Place	$100	$100	3rd Place	$100	$100	3rd Place	$50	$50	3rd Place	$50	$50

Divisional Awards

Note: Top 3 series winners are not eligible for distinctive awards. The following divisions in each distance category will receive series awards:

• Top 3 Age Group (M & F) - 19 & under, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65+
• Top 3 Clydesdale
• Top 3 Athena

Second Sole Ohio Series Divisional Winners

All series division winners in the 2007 Battle of Ohio Triathlon & Duathlon Series – over a 100 winners will receive a $90 certificate for a pair of Brooks Running Shoes www.brooksrunning.com redeemable at your Second Sole Ohio store. Visit www.secondsoleohio.com for a location near you.

Tie-Breaking Rules

In case of tie in overall series points, the tie position and the position below will be combined. Example, if two participants tie for 1^st place, each athlete will share 1^st place division honors and any product or certificate awards for the 1^st and 2^nd place position will be split evenly between the two divisions winners. The 3^rd highest division finisher will take 3^rd place division honors (2^nd place is eliminated).