racerecords

What is a good half marathon time for a 70-year-old man?

Regional class (70% age-graded) is 1:52:30. National class (80%) is 1:38:26. World class (90%) is 1:27:30. Those are the half marathon times a 70-year-old man needs against the world best for that age, graded with AJ 2025.

Tiers at 70

half marathon target times by age-grade tier for a 70-year-old man
Age gradeTierTimemin/km
90%World class1:27:304:09
80%National class1:38:264:40
70%Regional class1:52:305:20
60%Local class2:11:156:13
50%Recreational2:37:307:28

Ages 68 to 72

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

half marathon target times for men aged 68 to 72
Age50%Recreational60%Local class70%Regional class80%National class90%World class
682:34:122:08:301:50:091:36:231:25:40
692:35:502:09:511:51:181:37:241:26:34
702:37:302:11:151:52:301:38:261:27:30
712:39:162:12:431:53:451:39:321:28:29
722:41:132:14:211:55:101:40:461:29:34

Questions

What is a good half marathon time for a 70-year-old man?#

Against the world best adjusted for age, a 70-year-old man scores 60% (local class) with 2:11:15, 70% (regional class) with 1:52:30, 80% (national class) with 1:38:26 and 90% (world class) with 1:27:30 over the half marathon. Graded with AJ 2025.

What half marathon time is 80% age-graded at 70 for men?#

1:38:26, which is 4:40 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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