What is a good marathon time for a 20-year-old woman?
Regional class (70% age-graded) is 3:14:18. National class (80%) is 2:50:01. World class (90%) is 2:31:08. Those are the marathon times a 20-year-old woman needs against the world best for that age, graded with AJ 2025.
Tiers at 20
| Age grade | Tier | Time | min/km |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | World class | 2:31:08 | 3:35 |
| 80% | National class | 2:50:01 | 4:02 |
| 70% | Regional class | 3:14:18 | 4:36 |
| 60% | Local class | 3:46:41 | 5:22 |
| 50% | Recreational | 4:32:02 | 6:27 |
Ages 18 to 22
The tables are single-year. This is how much the target moves in the two years either side of 20.
| Age | 50%Recreational | 60%Local class | 70%Regional class | 80%National class | 90%World class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 4:41:57 | 3:54:57 | 3:21:23 | 2:56:13 | 2:36:38 |
| 19 | 4:36:43 | 3:50:36 | 3:17:39 | 2:52:57 | 2:33:44 |
| 20 | 4:32:02 | 3:46:41 | 3:14:18 | 2:50:01 | 2:31:08 |
| 21 | 4:28:12 | 3:43:30 | 3:11:35 | 2:47:38 | 2:29:00 |
| 22 | 4:25:09 | 3:40:57 | 3:09:23 | 2:45:43 | 2:27:18 |
Questions
What is a good marathon time for a 20-year-old woman?#
Against the world best adjusted for age, a 20-year-old woman scores 60% (local class) with 3:46:41, 70% (regional class) with 3:14:18, 80% (national class) with 2:50:01 and 90% (world class) with 2:31:08 over the marathon. Graded with AJ 2025.
What marathon time is 80% age-graded at 20 for women?#
2:50:01, which is 4:02 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 21?#
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 18 to 22 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.