I'm not sure what the intention was for emulators when ParadoxKarl set up the boards, and I'm not very knowledgeable on emulator types. Probably best to ask him.
I haven't played much emulator myself but I'd assume it'd affect load times only (I don't recall getting much in-game lag). However the load times are already affected by which console you play on (I use the New 2DS XL so my loads are pretty fast compared to a normal 3DS or a DS), so if anyone were to ever upload an actual video of a run we'd have to consider timing it differently (i.e. listing time with and without loads, like many games do).
With the recent discovery of new shortcuts (shoutout to Mykel), it has become clear that non-shortcut runs should have their own formal leaderboards, as none previously existed. These have now been created - due to limitations on SRC, every Plane track has a non-shortcut leaderboard, but please igno