Why age-graded levels, not averages
An average finish time depends on who turns up. Big-city marathons, parkruns and trail races all have different fields, so an "average marathon time for a 45-year-old" changes with the data set and says little about how good a run is. We do not publish averages here because there is no single reliable source for them.
Age grading measures every time against the same yardstick: the age standard, a curve fitted to the best performances ever recorded at each age. A given percentage means the same quality of run at every age, which is the honest answer to "what is good for my age?"
How to read the table
Each row is an age, each column a level. 60% is local class, the kind of time that places well in a small local race. 70% is regional class, 80% national class and 90% world class, the bands USATF Masters publishes with the tables.
The times are exact outputs of the tables, rounded to the second: finish time = age standard divided by the grade. Use the age grade calculator to score a result you already have.
What the numbers show about ageing
The standards barely move until the mid-thirties, then slow at a gradually rising rate. For men at 5k the age factor falls from 1.0 at 30 to 0.8775 at 50 and 0.7353 at 70; for women from 0.9959 to 0.8592 and 0.665, a steeper curve. That is why a 60-year-old running 22:40 for 5k is performing at the same 70% level as a 30-year-old running 18:19.
How it works
- 1Pick a distance. 5k, 10k, half marathon or marathon (plus 8k, 15k, 10 miles and the road mile).
- 2Pick men or women. The tables are separate for each sex.
- 3Find your age row. Ages 20 to 80 in 5-year steps; the calculator handles any whole age from 5 to 100.
- 4Compare your time. The column your time beats is your level. For an exact percentage use the age grade calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good 5k time for my age?
A 5k at 60% age grade is a solid local-class result. That is 21:22 for men aged 20 to 30, 22:33 at 40, 24:21 at 50 and 26:27 at 60; for women it is 23:10 at 20, 24:23 at 40, 26:58 at 50 and 30:24 at 60.
What is a good marathon time for my age?
At 60% age grade: about 3:21 for men at 30, 3:25 at 40, 3:44 at 50 and 4:07 at 60; for women 3:37 at 30, 3:44 at 40, 4:01 at 50 and 4:32 at 60. 70% (regional class) is 2:52, 2:56, 3:12 and 3:32 for men and 3:06, 3:12, 3:26 and 3:53 for women.
Are these average finish times?
No. They are the times that equal a fixed age grade in the 2025 WMA/USATF tables. Averages depend on which races are counted; age-graded levels do not.
Where do the levels come from?
USATF Masters publishes the bands with the age-grading tables: 60% local class, 70% regional, 80% national, 90% world class and 100% approximately world-record level.
Why does a 20-year-old woman's marathon look slower than a 30-year-old's?
The tables put peak marathon age later than peak 5k age, so the factor at 20 (0.9553 for women) is below 1.0 while at 26 to 27 it is exactly 1.0.
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.