So recently I did a few runs of the NTSC version of the game and found I was quite a bit behind WR, however what mystifies me is the fact that my console run was a lot faster than my emu times I did and it got me thinking. What emulator settings are being used by some runners as I'm pretty sure overclocking or 2x read speed is being used to make the runs way faster than they should be?

I don't know about JuniorRoot, but Ezze, HoJiho and I were using psxfin. It's an old and somewhat inaccurate emulator but others have their own issues too. Ludwig wanted to investigate those runs last year and possibly retime them but gave up after some time so we're back to the original situation.

I have a physical NTSC copy now too so maybe I should do some tests on my end. Last time I played it I didn't see anything blatant compared to psxfin, loading times were even a few tenths faster on hardware, but I haven't run this game since so I may have missed things.

No idea. I was using a ps2 I believe