What is a good marathon time for a 50-year-old man?
Regional class (70% age-graded) is 3:12:12. National class (80%) is 2:48:10. World class (90%) is 2:29:29. Those are the marathon times a 50-year-old man needs against the world best for that age, graded with AJ 2025.
Tiers at 50
| Age grade | Tier | Time | min/km |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | World class | 2:29:29 | 3:33 |
| 80% | National class | 2:48:10 | 3:59 |
| 70% | Regional class | 3:12:12 | 4:33 |
| 60% | Local class | 3:44:13 | 5:19 |
| 50% | Recreational | 4:29:04 | 6:23 |
Ages 48 to 52
The tables are single-year. This is how much the target moves in the two years either side of 50.
| Age | 50%Recreational | 60%Local class | 70%Regional class | 80%National class | 90%World class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | 4:24:14 | 3:40:12 | 3:08:44 | 2:45:09 | 2:26:48 |
| 49 | 4:26:38 | 3:42:11 | 3:10:27 | 2:46:39 | 2:28:08 |
| 50 | 4:29:04 | 3:44:13 | 3:12:12 | 2:48:10 | 2:29:29 |
| 51 | 4:31:33 | 3:46:18 | 3:13:58 | 2:49:43 | 2:30:52 |
| 52 | 4:34:05 | 3:48:24 | 3:15:46 | 2:51:18 | 2:32:16 |
Questions
What is a good marathon time for a 50-year-old man?#
Against the world best adjusted for age, a 50-year-old man scores 60% (local class) with 3:44:13, 70% (regional class) with 3:12:12, 80% (national class) with 2:48:10 and 90% (world class) with 2:29:29 over the marathon. Graded with AJ 2025.
What marathon time is 80% age-graded at 50 for men?#
2:48:10, which is 3:59 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 51?#
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 48 to 52 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.