What is a good 5K time for a 40-year-old man?
Regional class (70% age-graded) is 19:19. National class (80%) is 16:55. World class (90%) is 15:02. Those are the 5K times a 40-year-old man needs against the world best for that age, graded with AJ 2025.
Tiers at 40
| Age grade | Tier | Time | min/km |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | World class | 15:02 | 3:00 |
| 80% | National class | 16:55 | 3:23 |
| 70% | Regional class | 19:19 | 3:52 |
| 60% | Local class | 22:33 | 4:31 |
| 50% | Recreational | 27:03 | 5:25 |
Ages 38 to 42
The tables are single-year. This is how much the target moves in the two years either side of 40.
| Age | 50%Recreational | 60%Local class | 70%Regional class | 80%National class | 90%World class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 26:40 | 22:13 | 19:03 | 16:40 | 14:49 |
| 39 | 26:51 | 22:23 | 19:11 | 16:47 | 14:55 |
| 40 | 27:03 | 22:33 | 19:19 | 16:55 | 15:02 |
| 41 | 27:15 | 22:43 | 19:28 | 17:02 | 15:09 |
| 42 | 27:28 | 22:53 | 19:37 | 17:10 | 15:15 |
Questions
What is a good 5K time for a 40-year-old man?#
Against the world best adjusted for age, a 40-year-old man scores 60% (local class) with 22:33, 70% (regional class) with 19:19, 80% (national class) with 16:55 and 90% (world class) with 15:02 over the 5K. Graded with AJ 2025.
What 5K time is 80% age-graded at 40 for men?#
16:55, which is 3:23 min/km. 80% is the usual shorthand for national class. In a big-city marathon field roughly one finisher in eighty reaches it.
Does the target change at 41?#
Yes, a little. The tables are single-year, so every birthday moves the target a few seconds over a 5K and a minute or two over a marathon. The rows for 38 to 42 on this page show the slope.
Where the numbers come from
Age grading divides the world best for the distance, adjusted for age and sex, by your time. 100% is that world best. The road factors are the AJ 2025tables, approved by USATF’s Masters Long Distance Running Council. The methodology page has the formula, and this post shows what 80% looks like across every distance.