What an age grade means
An age grade answers one question: how close was this run to the best a person of your age and sex can do? The tables hold an age standard for every whole year from 5 to 100. Divide that standard by your time and you get your percentage. The same percentage means the same quality of run at 25 or at 75, which is why masters races and parkruns use it to rank across age groups.
The age-graded time is the other side of the same number. It multiplies your time by the age factor to give the open-class equivalent, the time a runner at peak age would need to match your performance. The 50-year-old above ran 20:00, but his run is worth 17:33 from a runner in their twenties.
The performance levels
USATF Masters publishes five bands with the tables: 100% is approximately world-record level, 90% and up is world class, 80% national class, 70% regional class and 60% local class. Below 60% the tables name no level.
The bands are the same for every distance and age, so a 72% half marathon and a 72% 5k are equally good runs. That makes the grade a useful way to compare your own races across distances, not just against other people.
Which tables this uses
We use Alan Jones' 2025 road running factors, approved by the USATF Masters Long Distance Running Council on 10 January 2025 and published openly (CC0). They are built from single-age best performances compiled by Tom Bernhard, with curves fitted at 5 km, 10 km, half marathon and marathon and the other distances interpolated between them.
The factors are copied verbatim into our data file and cross-checked against Howard Grubb's independent 2025 calculator with zero differences. We cover the road distances in those tables. Track events use separate WMA track tables that are not part of this road release, so a 1500 m or a track mile is not graded here; the road mile is.
Limits worth knowing
Age grading assumes a flat, record-eligible course and fair weather, so a hilly or hot race will grade lower than your fitness deserves. Use your age on race day in whole years, as the tables do. The grade compares you with the best, not with the average runner, so 60% is already a good result.
How it works
- 1Pick sex and age. Enter your age on race day in whole years (5 to 100).
- 2Choose the distance. 5k, 8k, 10k, 15k, 10 miles, half marathon, marathon or road mile.
- 3Enter your finish time. Type digits and the field fills as h:mm:ss, so 2000 becomes 0:20:00.
- 4Read the grade. The calculator divides the age standard by your time for the grade, multiplies your time by the age factor for the age-graded time, and shows the time you would need for each level.
Frequently asked questions
How is age grade calculated?
Age grade = open-class standard divided by (age factor times your time). For a 50-year-old man at 5k the factor is 0.8775 and the open standard is 12:49 (769 seconds), so a 20:00 run scores 769 / (0.8775 x 1200) = 73.0%.
What is a good age grade?
60% is local class, 70% regional class, 80% national class and 90% world class, per the bands USATF Masters publishes with the tables. Because the yardstick is the best time for your age, 60% is already a good result.
What is an age-graded time?
Your time multiplied by the age factor for your age, sex and distance. It is the time a runner at peak age would need to run to match your performance.
Is this the same age grading parkrun uses?
Parkrun also grades with WMA-derived age factors, but not necessarily the same edition. Our numbers use the 2025 USATF-approved road tables, so a parkrun age grade can differ slightly.
Why can my grade go over 100%?
100% equals the age standard, which is roughly world-record level for your age. A time faster than the standard scores above 100%, which is exceptionally rare.
Sources
- Alan Jones, Age-Grade-Tables (2025 road files). MaleRoadStd2025.xlsx and FemaleRoadStd2025.xlsx, approved by the USATF Masters Long Distance Running Council on 10 January 2025. CC0.
- USATF Masters, Age Grading. Performance levels: 100% approximate world record, 90% world class, 80% national, 70% regional, 60% local.
- Howard Grubb, USATF MLDR road age-grading calculator 2025. Independent implementation of the same 2025 factors, used to cross-check every value in our data file.
- Alan Jones, Creating Road Running Age Tables. How the standards are fitted to single-age best performances.
Last updated 6 September 2026.