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"Age Grade%" in running races....
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I was looking at last year's finishing times in the Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon since I'm thinking of running it in December.

For my age group, (male 50-54) for a time of around 1:30:00 they had an "age group %" stat listed. For 1:30 in the male 50:54 it was 75.6%. Does that mean a guy running 1:30 in my age group should be faster than 75.6% of the other 50-54 year old guys and beat by over 24%?

Yes I know that a 1:30 1/2 marathon is not really fast but I would have thought the "age group %" would be higher than that.

Where are all these fast guys racing? Certainly not at the Las Vegas 1/2 marathon and most other races that I have ran in the past.

A 1:30 1/2 marathon would have been good for about 6th place in that race last year out of over 100 in that age group, I didn't really check to see how many.

The winning time for the male 50-54 age group was just under 1:21 and it was rated at 85.8%, I would have thought it would be a good deal higher if it means that this guy would get beat by more than 14% of all guys in the 50-54 age group in the world.
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Re: "Age Grade%" in running races.... [beatnic_tx] [ In reply to ]
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Paul,

Do the R 'n R in PHX in January instead........fast course, good weather and a fun town.

I can hook you up.

G


It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.
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Re: "Age Grade%" in running races.... [beatnic_tx] [ In reply to ]
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I believe its a rating based on the national record at that distance for the age group. So you're running 75.5% of the national record pace.
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Re: "Age Grade%" in running races.... [gleveq] [ In reply to ]
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I can't race any at all in January. I go to "prison" in January to serve my yearly 4 month term. Otherwise I'd love to do that one.
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Re: "Age Grade%" in running races.... [beatnic_tx] [ In reply to ]
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That's not the purpose of the age grading. The purpose is to allow a runner in one age group to compare his or her performance to one in another age group. So a 78% for a 60 y/o = a 78% for a 30 year old even though the 30 y/o time will obviously be faster. I believe the algorithm primarily relies upon the world record for the particular distance across different age groups.
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Re: "Age Grade%" in running races.... [beatnic_tx] [ In reply to ]
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Check out this Calculator: http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm

From their website:
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These percentiles can be interpreted as follows:
  • Over 90% --- World Class
  • Over 80% --- National Class
  • Over 70% --- Regional Class
  • Over 60% --- Local Class
For whatever that's worth.
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Re: "Age Grade%" in running races.... [beatnic_tx] [ In reply to ]
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I really don't know what Age Grade % means, but I do know that one of Americas fastest 1/2 Mary's is the Philadelphia Distance Run. This year there were 614 men between 50 and 54, and the guy with the chip time 1:30:12 came in 19th in this group. My point is that a one and half hour half marathon is quite fast, but not in the money. When I was in my late 30s I could kick this off in about 1:27, now that I'm 55 I'm around 1:40. I think Age Grade % has something to do with that. I'm getting older and slower, surprise, surprise. Tim
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