FEI Marathon Penalty Calculator

What Is the FEI Combined Driving Marathon Phase?

The marathon phase is the cross-country element of FEI Combined Driving, typically run on Saturday. Athletes drive a course divided into sections that includes a series of numbered Obstacles. Each Obstacle contains lettered compulsory gates (A, B, C and beyond) that must be driven in the correct sequence and direction. Total time in the Obstacles, time penalties and errors of course all contribute to the score, making the marathon the phase with the highest potential for score variation.

Minimum Time, Time Allowed, Time Limit and Obstacle Timing

Each section has a Time Allowed calculated from its distance and the selected average speed. The Minimum Time is three minutes less than the Time Allowed, and the Time Limit is twice the Time Allowed. Athletes are penalised 0.25 penalties for every second over the Time Allowed — and 0.25 penalties for every second they finish under the Minimum Time, so driving too fast is penalised exactly like driving too slow. Exceeding the Time Limit is Elimination. Separately, the Time Limit inside a single Obstacle is five minutes: failing to pass the exit flags within it is Elimination. Easy Driving tracks the Minimum Time, the Time Allowed, the Time Limit and each Obstacle clock at once.

How the Marathon Penalty System Works

There is no target time inside an Obstacle. The total time an Athlete spends in all the Obstacles is recorded to hundredths of a second and multiplied by 0.25 — every hundredth counts, from the first, and there is no rounding and no conversion to penalty points for individual Obstacles. Fixed penalties are then added for specific incidents: two penalties for each dislodgeable element dislodged and 10 penalties for attempting to prevent one from being dislodged; five penalties each time one or both Grooms put both feet on the ground in an Obstacle, and 20 penalties each time the Athlete dismounts; 25 penalties for a Groom leading a Horse through an Obstacle; and 20 penalties for each corrected error of course inside an Obstacle. Easy Driving calculates the time component automatically and lets you record each fixed-penalty incident against the correct Obstacle.

Sections of the Marathon Course

A marathon course is driven in sections, each with its own Time Allowed calculated from that section's distance and selected average speed, and its own Minimum Time three minutes below it. The numbered Obstacles sit on the course with roughly one kilometre of course per Obstacle and preferably not less than 700 m between two consecutive Obstacles. Knowing which time boundaries apply to which section is essential for pacing. Easy Driving works on one section at a time: enter that section's distance and average speed and it derives that section's Time Allowed, Minimum Time and Time Limit, then builds a kilometre-by-kilometre roadmap of target times. Obstacle times are recorded separately, against each numbered Obstacle.

Marathon Phase Glossary

Key terms used in the FEI Combined Driving marathon phase and throughout Easy Marathon.

Obstacle

A numbered obstacle on the marathon course, built from natural or artificial features, containing lettered compulsory gates that must be driven in sequence. The Time Limit inside one Obstacle is five minutes.

Gate (A, B, C…)

A lettered passage inside an Obstacle, marked with red and white signs lettered A up to F. Compulsory gates must be driven in the indicated sequence and direction; a corrected error of course costs 20 penalties, an uncorrected one is Elimination.

Minimum Time

Three minutes less than the Time Allowed. Finishing under the Minimum Time is penalised 0.25 penalties for every second early — the same rate as finishing over the Time Allowed.

Dislodgeable element

A detachable element on an Obstacle, usually a ball in a cup like the ones used in cones. Each element dislodged costs two penalties; attempting to prevent one from being dislodged costs 10 penalties.

Time Allowed

The time for a section, calculated from its distance and the prescribed average speed. Every second over it costs 0.25 penalties; every second under the Minimum Time costs 0.25 penalties too.

Time Limit

Twice the Time Allowed. An Athlete who exceeds the Time Limit is Eliminated.

Obstacle time limit

The maximum time inside a single Obstacle: five minutes. Failing to pass the exit flags within it is Elimination, and the Obstacle Observer signals it with two blasts on a whistle.

Obstacle penalties

The total time spent in all the Obstacles, recorded to hundredths of a second and multiplied by 0.25, plus any fixed-value incident penalties. There is no per-Obstacle target time and no rounding.

Groom

The crew member(s) required on the carriage during the marathon. Grooms must be on the carriage as the Athlete enters each Obstacle; putting both feet on the ground inside an Obstacle costs five penalties, and leading a Horse through by the bridle end of the reins costs 25.

Compulsory turning flag (CTF)

A marked flag on course that must be passed in the designated sequence and direction. An Athlete may return and drive a missed CTF before driving the next CTF or the next Obstacle; failing to drive it is Elimination.