The Forecast · xCI, the Expected Competition Index


The Forecast · xCI

The deepest fields.

xCI — Expected Competition Index. A pre-race measure of field depth, based on the top 10 UTMB Index scores on the start list. Higher = deeper field. Every UTMB Index shown in a roster is the runner's General Index at the time of that race — not their current one.

How races get in: every Friday I rate the start lists of the coming weekend’s big races, mostly UTMB World Series and Golden Trail Series. The rest of the 2026 season was added from The Summit: every race that put runners into the year’s top performances has a card, rebuilt from its results. Local races with a single ranked runner stay out.

Category
Series
Country
Show
Race detail
Top 10 Deepest · Women
Theoretical max W: 824
Top 10 Deepest · Men
Theoretical max M: 948
Methodology: mean(Top 10 UTMB Index of starters) − 1·stddev. Inspired by Travis Loncar's RCI (Freetrail).

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