The Running World Cup is designed so that even those countries with smaller populations can compete fairly against those countries with larger populations.

Participants earn points for their country by running and earning KM Points. This means the number of kilometres that a country runs is divided by the number of potential runners in that country.

However, you need to run with a smartphone (or run tracker) that can measure and record your runs with the Running World Cup app. This means the potential number of runners is not just the number of people in a country but also the number of people who own a smartphone. So, the number of kilometres that a country runs is divided by the smartphone population in that country.

But it’s not enough just to have a smartphone – you also need to be aware of the Running World Cup and this is where the largest countries have a disadvantage. Awareness is harder to measure but we can be sure that with an increasing population size comes an increasing communications challenge. To avoid too many unaware people becoming a drag on a country’s score we adjust a smartphone population down – for each 5m people we reduce by an additional 0.25%. For a country with a smartphone population of 5m this means a reduction of 0.25%, for 50m this means a reduction of 2.5% and for 500m this means a reduction of 25%.

Bonus points are then added to achieve the overall country score. Your country score and any individual bonus points will reset to zero after each round, with the exception of your invite bonus points, which will carry throughout the tournament.

You and your fellow RWC Runners can earn Bonus Points that are added to your existing KM Points. You earn these points by inviting a friend who then runs a 3km distance within 30 minutes at any time, and by running a 5km or 10Km during the tournament.

For example, if during the first week of the competition, you don’t just run the qualification distance of 3km within 30 minutes but keep running to 5km then you’ll earn 75 Bonus Points, keep running to 10km then you’ll earn 125 Bonus Points. And the great news is that you can earn Bonus Points in other ways too – by inviting a friend to take part who then runs, will earn 225 Bonus points.

Across all the participants running for your country the average Bonus Points tally is calculated and this becomes your country’s Bonus Points Score.

This Bonus Point Score is added to your country’s KM Score to produce the final Score determining where your country ranks overall in the leaderboard.

This Bonus Point Score is great because even if another country appears to be winning based on KM Points, you can catch them up by inviting friends, and running further.

Your country score and any individual bonus points will reset to zero after each round, with the exception of your invite bonus points which will carry throughout the tournament. Maximum of 675 Bonus points per person (i.e. 3 invites in total for people that run a 3km qualifying run in any round).