Ever wanted to compare your personal bests against others while accounting for variables such as age, sex, and distance? Luckily, we have an age-grade calculator ready to go. But just what is an age-grading calculator, and how do you use it? Read below for a full guide—then get calculating!
How to use our age-grade calculator
Enter age, sex, race distance, and finishing time in the appropriate fields. The age-graded score and time will automatically appear.
What does an age-grading calculator do?
Our age-grade calculator produces a score for race times. The score is expressed as a percentage of the world-best time for the distance for a given age and gender. For example, a 44-year-old woman who runs a 25:00 5K gets an age-graded score of 62.33 percent.
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These performance standards give approximate comparative levels:
- 100 percent = world record
- 90 percent = world class
- 80 percent = national class
- 70 percent = regional class
- 60 percent = local class
The calculator also provides an age-graded time for each performance, which is the equivalent performance by a person of that gender in the open division (generally, up to age 30). In the example above, the 44-year-old’s 25:00 5K has an age-graded time of 23:41.
Why should you use an age-grading calculator?
Age-grading your race performances can be inspiring, instructional, or just plain interesting.
If you’re no longer setting personal records, age-grading shows how your current times compare to those who are younger and/or faster than you. For example, if you set your 10-mile PR at age 28, and recently ran a 10-mile race at age 54, you can input the data for both races and see which scores higher. You might discover that, although slower in absolute terms, your current times are of relatively greater quality.
Also, using the calculator to compare recent times at different distances can show you which performances were best.
Another fun way to use this tool is that age-grading can be used to compare yourself with other runners. Using the information from race results, input the age and gender of those who finished around you to see whose performance was relatively best. (You’ll get a little boost of confidence if that younger runner who passed you near the end scored lower with his age-graded score.) You could also compare your score for a race to that of the winner to see how close you were to “winning” the race.
