How it works
Age grading compares a race time with the best that can be expected at your age and sex, so that runners of different ages can be put on one scale. The tables hold two things for every distance:
- An open standard. The time the tables treat as the best possible at the distance. For the 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon Alan Jones, who makes the tables, uses the world record as it stood when he made them. For the other distances he sets a time that keeps pace changing smoothly with distance. The men’s 5K standard is 12:49 and the women’s is 13:54.
- An age factor for every year of age from 5 to 100. The factor is 1 for the ages at which the open standard applies (19 to 29 for the men’s 5K) and smaller for younger and older runners.
Dividing the open standard by your factor gives your age standard, the 100% time for your age. Your age-graded percentage is the age standard divided by your time. Your age-graded time is your time multiplied by your factor: in Jones’s words, a time that you should be able to run as an open athlete.
The factors come from the fastest known times at each single year of age, compiled by Tom Bernhard. Jones fits a curve under those times for the 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon, and the standards at the other distances are worked out from those four by interpolation. The 2025 standards were approved on 10 January 2025 by the Masters Long Distance Running Council of USA Track & Field. Plates & Pace is not affiliated with USA Track & Field, World Masters Athletics or the authors of the tables.
The formula
age standard
= open standard ÷ age factor
age-graded percentage
= age standard ÷ your time
× 100
age-graded time
= your time × age factor
time for a score
= age standard ÷ (score ÷ 100)Worked example
A 50-year-old man runs a 5K in 25:00.
- The men’s open standard for 5K is 12:49, and the factor for a man of 50 at 5K is 0.8775.
- Age standard: 12:49 is 769 seconds, and 769 ÷ 0.8775 = 876.35 seconds, which is 14:36.
- Age-graded percentage: 25:00 is 1,500 seconds, and 876.35 ÷ 1,500 × 100 = 58.42%.
- Age-graded time: 25:00 × 0.8775 = 21:56.
A woman of 50 with the same 25:00 scores 64.71%, because the women’s standard at that age is 16:11.
What the percentage means
World Masters Athletics published these general guidelines with its 2010 road standards:
- Above 100%: usually, at least, a record for that age and distance
- 100%: approximate world record level
- Above 90%: world class level
- Above 80%: national class level
- Above 70%: regional class level
- Above 60%: local class level
They are rough labels, not official classes. The example above, a 25:00 5K by a 50-year-old man, is 58.42%. The same man would need 24:21 for 60% and 20:52 for 70%.
Age standards by age: 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon
The 100% time at each age for the four distances the tables are fitted to. Your age-graded percentage is the time in the table divided by your own time. The calculator covers every age from 5 to 100 and all 22 distances.
| Age | 5K | 10K | Half | Marathon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 12:49 | 26:29 | 57:31 | 2:01:33 |
| 25 | 12:49 | 26:24 | 57:31 | 2:00:35 |
| 30 | 12:49 | 26:24 | 57:31 | 2:00:35 |
| 35 | 13:03 | 26:39 | 57:56 | 2:00:35 |
| 40 | 13:32 | 27:24 | 59:41 | 2:03:15 |
| 45 | 14:03 | 28:30 | 1:02:11 | 2:08:39 |
| 50 | 14:36 | 29:43 | 1:04:55 | 2:14:32 |
| 55 | 15:13 | 31:01 | 1:07:54 | 2:20:59 |
| 60 | 15:52 | 32:27 | 1:11:10 | 2:28:05 |
| 65 | 16:35 | 34:01 | 1:14:46 | 2:35:56 |
| 70 | 17:26 | 35:45 | 1:18:45 | 2:44:40 |
| 75 | 18:43 | 38:06 | 1:24:13 | 2:55:51 |
| 80 | 20:42 | 41:54 | 1:33:00 | 3:13:54 |
| 85 | 23:48 | 47:56 | 1:47:06 | 3:43:01 |
| 90 | 28:56 | 58:04 | 2:11:12 | 4:32:52 |
| Age | 5K | 10K | Half | Marathon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 13:54 | 28:49 | 1:03:22 | 2:16:01 |
| 25 | 13:54 | 28:46 | 1:02:52 | 2:10:05 |
| 30 | 13:57 | 28:49 | 1:03:00 | 2:10:09 |
| 35 | 14:12 | 29:11 | 1:03:50 | 2:11:31 |
| 40 | 14:38 | 29:54 | 1:05:29 | 2:14:14 |
| 45 | 15:19 | 31:00 | 1:08:05 | 2:18:26 |
| 50 | 16:11 | 32:36 | 1:11:49 | 2:24:24 |
| 55 | 17:09 | 34:33 | 1:16:20 | 2:32:36 |
| 60 | 18:14 | 36:45 | 1:21:27 | 2:43:08 |
| 65 | 19:29 | 39:14 | 1:27:19 | 2:55:18 |
| 70 | 20:54 | 42:06 | 1:34:04 | 3:09:26 |
| 75 | 22:33 | 45:24 | 1:41:58 | 3:26:34 |
| 80 | 24:39 | 50:04 | 1:53:12 | 3:53:49 |
| 85 | 28:09 | 57:58 | 2:12:34 | 4:41:00 |
| 90 | 34:21 | 1:12:05 | 2:48:30 | 6:12:12 |
Open standard ÷ age factor, from the 2025 tables, rounded to the second.
What these tables cover
- Road races at the listed distances. The tables hold 22 road distances: 1 mile, 5K, 6K and so on, up to 200K. Track events have their own tables, which are not used here, and there are no factors for trail or cross-country races.
- Whole years of age. There is one factor for each year of age, so enter your age on the day of the race.
- The 2025 edition. The tables have been revised in 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2025. A result scored on an older edition will show a different percentage for the same time.
- The data file. The factors on this page were read from the two 2025 workbooks in the tables’ repository on 5 October 2026. They match the text files the repository publishes for scoring software at every age those files cover (5 to 99). The workbooks also carry a second sheet of age standards in seconds, which agrees with the factors in 4,206 of 4,224 cells. The 18 that differ are the men’s row for age 5 and the women’s 10K at age 100, where this page uses the factor.
Questions
What is a good age grade percentage?
World Masters Athletics gave these guidelines with its 2010 road standards: above 60% is local class level, above 70% regional class, above 80% national class, above 90% world class, and 100% is approximate world record level. A 25:00 5K by a 50-year-old man is 58.42%.
How is age grading calculated?
Divide the open standard for your distance by the age factor for your age and sex to get your age standard, then divide that by your finish time. For a 50-year-old man at 5K: 12:49 ÷ 0.8775 = 14:36, and 14:36 ÷ 25:00 = 58.42%.
What is an age-graded time?
Your finish time multiplied by your age factor. It is the time the tables treat as equal in merit for a runner in the open age range. A 25:00 5K by a 50-year-old man has an age-graded time of 21:56.
Which age do I enter?
Your age on the day of the race, in whole years. The tables have one factor for each year of age from 5 to 100.
Why does another calculator give a different percentage?
Check which edition of the tables it uses. The road tables were revised in 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2025, and the standards moved each time. Rounding matters too: the 2025 workbooks also list every age standard rounded to the whole second, and dividing by that rounded time gives 58.40% for a 25:00 5K by a 50-year-old man, where the unrounded standard gives 58.42%. This page uses the 2025 factors and does not round until the end.
Can I use it for track or trail races?
It is built for road races at the listed distances. Track events have separate tables, which are not used here, and there are no factors for trail or cross-country courses.
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Sources
- Jones A, Bernhard T. Age-Grade-Tables: road age-grading standards 2025 (MaleRoadStd2025.xlsx and FemaleRoadStd2025.xlsx). Released under CC0 1.0 Universal. Read on 5 October 2026.
- Jones A. Age-Grade Tables: tables for grading road-running performances based on gender and age. 13 January 2025. History of the tables and how they are used.
- Jones A. Creating Road Running Age-Grade Tables. 23 October 2024. How the open standards and the age factors are made.
- World Masters Athletics. Road Age Standards, WMA 2010: how the standards work and the guideline levels.
- Grubb H. USATF MLDR Road age-grading calculator 2025. The current edition of the calculator that the tables’ repository points to. Its factors and open standards are the same as the ones used here.