racerecords

What is a good 5K time for a 70-year-old woman?

Regional class (70% age-graded) is 29:52. National class (80%) is 26:08. World class (90%) is 23:13. Those are the 5K times a 70-year-old woman needs against the world best for that age, graded with AJ 2025.

Tiers at 70

5K target times by age-grade tier for a 70-year-old woman
Age gradeTierTimemin/km
90%World class23:134:39
80%National class26:085:14
70%Regional class29:525:58
60%Local class34:506:58
50%Recreational41:488:22

Ages 68 to 72

The tables are single-year. This is how much the target moves in the two years either side of 70.

5K target times for women aged 68 to 72
Age50%Recreational60%Local class70%Regional class80%National class90%World class
6840:3733:5129:0125:2322:34
6941:1234:2029:2625:4522:53
7041:4834:5029:5226:0823:13
7142:2535:2130:1826:3123:34
7243:0435:5330:4526:5523:55

Questions

What is a good 5K time for a 70-year-old woman?#

Against the world best adjusted for age, a 70-year-old woman scores 60% (local class) with 34:50, 70% (regional class) with 29:52, 80% (national class) with 26:08 and 90% (world class) with 23:13 over the 5K. Graded with AJ 2025.

What 5K time is 80% age-graded at 70 for women?#

26:08, which is 5:14 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 71?#

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 68 to 72 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.

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