RW Boost is a membership program that was launched on February 7, 2018. It’s a fun way to spice up your event calendar through a variety of point-earning opportunities. Check out the live standings, where you can also toggle back to see standings all the way to 2018.

Run Fast. Run Often. Get Points. This is the key to competing in RW Boost, and earning great rewards along the way!

Some RW members pick up their free swag!

What you need to know for 2024

  • All timed races in 2024 count (including races signed up for before membership)
  • Deadline to join Boost 2024 is June 16
  • Prizing is back! But thrill of competition remains!

The Rules

These are the criteria for earning points. See below for definitions of these new terms.

  • Running in a timed event earns you points for that event.
    • Your score is calculated as Participation + Merit + Boosters
    • All of these points are worth maximum of 100 and are all cumulative, so in theory, the maximum score for a timed finish is 300 points, and the minimum score for a timed finish is 100.
  • Only your top 8 finishes count.
    • Of these, only four can be ENDURrun Stages.
    • After you have finished and counted 8 events, a further higher score will count, as it will bump out your lowest event total.
  • For standings and prizing, you are only competing against runners in your own Demographic.

Glossary of RW Boost Terms

If this is new to you, there’s lots to learn to get up to speed!

  • Participation: 100 for finishing a timed event.
  • Merit: Maximum of 100 points, based on your gender percentile.
    • Gender Percentile: How merit scores are calculated. You score merit points based on your percentile in your gender. The precise formula is (1 – (gender place / gender finishers)) * 100 and holds all decimals.
  • Booster: Any of three types of bonus points. Boosters are additive, so 100 Booster points is possible.
    • Classic Booster: 50 points for finishing a Waterloo Classic or Fall Classic event.
    • PB Booster: 30 points for earning a RW personal best in any distance. This uses gun time and only applies to times at Run Waterloo events. Your first time running a distance is a PB. This does not count ties – you have to beat a previous PB.
    • Ditto Booster: 20 points for finishing a timed race that you also finished the previous year (any distance).
  • Demographic (Dem): Four groupings  for standings and prizing: men/women, under 40/over 40.
  • Leaderboard: The top 5 people in any Demographic at any given time.
  • Score Report: A customized description of all points earned by a member, found by clicking their Points Total on the standings.

Eligibility

  • This covers an entire calendar year, starting with Re-Fridgee-Eighter and concluding with Santa Pur-suit.
  • This is only available to members who have not opted out of the membership profile. There is no cost and no signup – all members are automatically enrolled and will start earning points with their first timed finish, as soon as results are available.
  • For 2024, the deadline for access to this competition is June 16, 2024. As of this date, all 2024 RW members will earn full credit for all 2024 races to that point. After this date, anyone who signs up for a 2024 membership (or opts back in to a membership profile) will not be included in RW Boost standings or rewards.

Rewards

We have given out thousands of dollars in swag over the first two years, but we haven’t offered swag since 2019. The 2018 rewards were announced on April 11, and the 2019 rewards were launched on May 3, 2019.

Swag from 2024 will include:

  • 600 points: exclusive RW Member T-shirt
  • 900 points: exclusive RW Hoodie
  • 1200 points: free 2025 Run Waterloo membership

Pictured below are the 2019 t-shirt and hoodie. 2024 designs will be consistent but unique to 2024.