Best age grade performances you've seen (50yo +)

Those are decent times but still amateur hour. Rick Lee from NJ. I think he ran like 2:40 at Boston last year or the year before. He was in his early 60s.

And Ivana Iozzia from Italy ran 2:41 at NYC last year at age 50. Ag graded 94.66%. She was first place age graded. African who won only ran 2:27.

ten years ago i finished a 3 mile race in 17:50, and a 64yo finished 15 seconds behind me. he normally ran +90% age graded performances.

all time world best performance? 2:04 for a 41yo must age grade to a sub-2 performance for a 28yo Ethiopian runner, right?

i was going to say it should be a world best sub2, but hey close enough

Is that 100% clean though?

I know the thread title says 50+, but thought I'd share anyway. As a 19/yo I decided to enter an open 3 mile XC race to test my fitness, ended up being humbled by a dude who was 48. We came through the 2 mile mark at 10:20, at which point he came up from behind and gapped me by 10s to the finish.

The next year I managed to best him in an 8K (25:1x to 25:3x), but was still really impressed. Supposedly he was a sub 8:20 steepler in his prime as a collegiate, so it makes sense that he'd still be pretty damn fast with dedicated training at his age.

Earlier this season, my coach told us about his friend who supposedly recently ran a sub 8:50 indoor 3k as an over 50 I believe? Don't remember the exact details on that one, but it stuck in my mind because that was the same week I ran 8:50 outdoors, lol.

Some might be, but guys who ran competitive times when they were younger and have kept training and racing should be able to run 75-85% without any extra help. Without knowing someone's background, I wouldn't be start saying hmmm until I see times above 90%.

Remember reading about a guy, Fauja Singh's one;

UK: Age graded record holder: Fauja SINGH - 179.04 % - 38:34 -5k

Not sure how old he is? Old.

His records were never ratified as there is no proof of birth date, so his age is uncertain. It is very likely that he is much younger than his supposed age.

As a young master (40-44) I managed to hit "decent" marks, mostly in the 83-85% range, with one outlier where I got pulled to a 1500 PR in an open indoor meet, following a pack of second-tier collegiate runners and dipping just under 4:10, good for ~ 89%. I never came close to that in any other race; my second best mark was 87%. As an older master (59 in a couple of months), I would be over the moon to threaten 80%. My first "race" in ~ 15 years will be in a month and I hope to dip under 20 minutes, which is a hair under 80% according to the Howard Grubb calculator anyway.

I have been in the presence of masters greatness a few times, having seen Ed Whitlock race. I ran an indoor meet at York University winter and watched him set a new age-world record. I forget how old he was and his time, but man was he a graceful runner.

I was there for an age world record in the mile last year, so probably that.

you may be thinking of Cindy Conant of Kensington, MD, who breaks 90% age grade pretty regularly (e.g., in March a 1:29:50 shamrock half-marathon at age 62).

Try Suzanne LaBurt. I think she has a higher % than Cindy.

Rick Lee ran 2:46 last year at Boston. This year he was second in the 60-64 age group in 2:52 (looks like most of the times were just a little slower at Boston).

As Coyote Montane mentioned previously, the USATF National Masters Championships usually produce some awe inspiring performances.

For whatever reason, I have yet to do what I think I 'should' do at any of the national events in 2022-24. I managed a couple of 80% plus mile races (certified road and track) last year and previously in the 5Km and one half marathon over 80% since turning 60+, but it takes a lot of things to go just right. At nationals my target is just top half on my age division and contribute to the club's team score. (I am certainly not fast and never was, but am pretty durable)

Until this year's national races, I will do some local races and be satisfied to be healthy enough to run 50mpw and race 'better' age-graded at least than when I was about 45 years ago.

If the 80%+ happens, it is a bonus.

Every day is a gift!

Here are results from this year 5K road championships and last year's 10K championships. Both have fairly hilly courses. I think the road mile last year had at least a dozen men and as many women running 90% or better and several American records were set that day. There was some bloke here the other month saying that the masters road championships are a 'joke' and that he'd rather run his regional races, which he claimed were more competitive. Whatever.

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2024 USATF Masters 5 km Championships Results

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Link:www.flipsnack.com/USATF/2024-usatf-mas...

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2023 USATF Masters 10 km Championships Age Graded Results

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I age graded over 90% at the 2018 and 2019 5K championships, which had similar levels of competition to the past couple of years. Highest both years was perennial age grade champ Nat Larson:

Maybe the Boston Marathon could set the age group qualifying times based upon age-grading. Set a lower limit of maybe 60% or 65% (I'm just totally guessing what % might result in a similar # of qualifiers are the current system). Some people have argued in the past the older athletes have a big advantage in qualifying. If there is an established age-graded percentage (i.e. 65%), then theoretically a 75-yo would not have any advantage over a 40-yo since they both need to score 65%.

Admittedly, this would be a much more complicated system than the current one but possibly more fair.