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Purdy Points Calculator

Enter your time and the standard time to score the run.

How it is calculated

You enter two times in the same unit, normally seconds: your actual time and the standard time you are scoring against. The ratio is ratio = standard ÷ actual, and the score is points = 1000 × ratio³. Matching the standard gives exactly 1,000 points. Running slower gives fewer points, and running faster gives more than 1,000, because the score is not capped. Cubing makes the score drop quickly: a ratio of 0.9 gives 729 points. Both times must be above zero. The tool also reports the ratio to 3 decimals and a note on how many seconds faster or slower you are. It uses this simple cubic formula; it does not look up published tables, so the points are an approximation, not an official score.

Worked example

Take a 5 km run in 20:00, which is 1,200 s, scored against a standard of 16:40, which is 1,000 s. The ratio is 1,000 ÷ 1,200 = 0.833. Cubed, that is 0.8333³ = 0.5787. Points = 1,000 × 0.5787 = 579. The note says the run is slower than the standard by 200 s. Had the runner finished in 900 s instead, the ratio would be 1.111 and the score about 1,372.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering times as 20:00 or 16.40. The fields take one number, so convert to seconds first (1,200 and 1,000); a colon will not work.
  • Swapping the two times. The ratio is standard ÷ actual, so reversed inputs give 1,728 points for a run that is actually slower.
  • Comparing a 5 km time with a marathon standard. The standard must be for the same distance as your time, or the score means nothing.
  • Expecting a score capped at 1,000. Beating the standard gives more than 1,000, so a score above 1,000 is not an error.
  • Quoting the result as an official Purdy score. The tool scores against the standard you supply with a cubic ratio, not the published Purdy tables, so it is only comparable with other results from this same method.

About this calculator

The Purdy Points system, developed by statistician John Purdy, scores a running performance by comparing an athlete’s time for a given distance to a standard (world-class) time for that same distance, converting the comparison into a points value on a common scale. This calculator uses the simplified formula 1000 × (standard time ÷ your time)³: matching the standard time scores exactly 1000, a faster time scores more than 1000 (there is no cap), and a slower time scores less as the ratio of actual time to standard time grows.

Because the scoring is built on the standard time for each specific distance, Purdy Points let coaches and athletes compare performances across completely different race distances — a 5K time and a marathon time — on the same numerical scale, which is useful for club scoring systems, age-grading style comparisons, and all-around or multi-event competitions where a single combined score is needed. You enter your time and the relevant standard time (both in seconds), and the calculator returns the resulting score.

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Comments (1)

  • Editorial team

    The score here is 1000 times the cubed ratio of your standard time to your actual time, so you supply the standard yourself. Running 720 seconds against an 800 second standard gives about 1,372 points. This is a simple cubic scale and may not match the official tables, so compare only scores calculated the same way. What standard are you using?

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