Not sure why I haven't noticed this until now, but I see that the top runs skip the timer countdown at the end of Stage 1 and again at the end of Stage 5. Any explanation on how to do this would be greatly appreciated!

Somewhere you just need death, somewhere damage at a certain distance. A matter of practice, if briefly

Thanks! I was able to get Stage 5 to work not knowing that death was a requirement, but that makes sense now! Will have to adjust my Stage 1 route to get the death in there.