FAQ
Below are the answers to frequently asked questions. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to use the contact form.
How can I participate in the BOINC Pentathlon?
Every team should be signed up by a contact person using this registration form until 02 May 2023. The credits of all team members at the Pentathlon projects will be counted, so team members do not need to sign up individually.
I registered my team for the Pentathlon, but it does not appear in the list of registered teams.
That page is updated manually, hence there may be some delay.
How are the projects chosen?
To make the Pentathlon as exciting and trouble-free as possible while at the same time maintaining a maximum of flexibility, all five projects are chosen by a small group of the organizers this year.
Where and when are the projects announced?
On the fifth day (City Run or Cross Country) or on the third day (all other disciplines) prior to the start of the discipline on the main page, via Blog, and RSS feed. While the Obstacle Run project is announced exactly three days in advance at 00:00 UTC, the announcement of the other projects are possible at 00:00 UTC, 06:00 UTC, 12:00 UTC, or 18:00 UTC to compensate for geographical advantages. Regardless of the time of the announcement, all disciplines start and end at 00:00 UTC.
When do the disciplines start?
The exact time for each discipline will be announced together with the project. In addition, each day of Javelin Throw is announced on the third day prior to the start. Therefore, no team will know the complete Pentathlon schedule in advance.
How does the Obstacle Run work?
The Obstacle Run takes place during the whole Pentathlon. During this time, three obstacles of one day each have to be crossed. At each obstacle, each team gets a bonus of 25%, 50%, or 100% of the credits it scored on the day in this discipline's stats. The obstacles and the bonus are announced at the beginning of the respective day. The team with the most credits earned, including the bonus credits, wins.
How does the Sprint work?
Running for only three days, the Sprint is the shortest discipline. It will be run at a project that provides work units with a quorum of 1 or adaptive replication to make sure that credits are granted as fast as possible. The team with the most credits earned at the specified project during the specified period wins.
How does the City Run work?
The City Run is a discipline with the well-known duration of five days. The team that earns the most credits wins.
How does the Cross Country work?
The Cross Country will also run for five days. The team that earns the most credits wins.
What is Javelin Throw?
Javelin Throw consists of five days, the credits are counted for each day separately. The rankings are based on each team's third best daily score. It will be run at a project that provides work units with a quorum of 1 or adaptive replication to make sure that credits are granted as fast as possible.
How are the overall standings calculated?
In each discipline, overall points are awarded for the first 30 teams with credits according to this table. Teams that received no credits in a discipline do not get any points for the overall score in this discipline. The team with the most overall points from all five disciplines wins the Pentathlon.
What happens in case of a tie in the overall standings?
Tied teams are ranked by their head-to-head comparison. Example: Team A finishes the five disciplines ranked 4th, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, while Team B finishes ranked 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd. Hence, both teams reach 450 points. However, Team A wins, as it was ahead of Team B in more disciplines than vice versa.
When are the stats updated?
The overall standings and the stats for all running disciplines are updated on the hour.
Do work units downloaded prior to the start of the discipline count? How about pending credits?
Credits granted while the discipline or a day of Javelin Throw is running are counted. It does not matter when the work unit was downloaded. Also, pending credits cannot be taken into account.
What happens if a project's server is unreachable and stats cannot be updated?
This can be a problem if it happens at the start or end of a discipline or of a day of Javelin Throw or of an obstacle day. Only credits granted after the first successful update after start and before the last successful update before end of the discipline can be counted. So, if you want to make sure that your credits are counted, you should return them after the first successful stats update (check the time of the last update on the respective discipline stats page) but well in advance of the end.
Are there individual user stats?
No, the Pentathlon is a team competition. Hence, there are only team stats.
