Here's my take after doing Midsouth 100 a couple of times "with the pros".
I do love lining up in the corral and seeing the pros on the front row, literally a few dozen feet away from me, but once the race starts, they are SO FAST and SO GONE that it doesn't matter at all anymore.
For the women's starts, what I've read is that the other pro women "get lost" in the crowd and you have no idea who's in front or behind you (you=pro women).
I can see a benefit to having a schedule like this, because it would give the Pro Women time to sort themselves out together, THEN the tactics can start once they've caught or been-caught after some time on the course.
- Pro/Elite Men @ 7:00am.
- Pro/Elite Women @ 7:05am
- Amateur Mass Start @ 7:15am