Last updated: 3 October 2026
Reviewed by Jordan Morley, FA Level 2 Football Coach
Age grading levels the playing field across ages and sexes by expressing your performance as a percentage of the age-and-sex world record standard. A 70% age grade is a strong club-runner performance; 80% is national class; 90%+ is world class. It lets a 60-year-old fairly compare their result against a 25-year-old's, and it's why many race results lists show an age-graded column.
- Percentage of the age/sex world standard
- 80% = national class, 90%+ = world class
- Compares performances fairly across ages
- Common in masters and parkrun results
In practice
Age grading lets a 60-year-old marathoner and a 25-year-old marathoner compare performances fairly by expressing each time as a percentage of the world-best time for that age and gender — a 70% age-graded performance from a masters runner can represent a more impressive athletic achievement than a faster raw time from someone in their physical prime.
FAQ
What's considered a good age-graded percentage?
Above 70% is generally considered strong club-level performance; 80%+ is national-class, and 90%+ approaches world-class regardless of the runner's age.
Why is age grading useful for masters athletes?
It accounts for the natural, expected decline in performance with age, allowing fair comparison and recognition of genuinely strong performances that a raw finishing time would undervalue.