Age Grading

By: Carol Ball and Loran Serwin

There’s one thing about being an older runner………… we are not as fast as those who are in their twenties or thirties, nor are we as fast as “we used to be”.  Or are we? It is a biological fact that as we age, we slow down and lose strength. To compensate, age groups and a Master’s category were created in competitive running events. While this began to create parity for older runners who only have to compete with age group peers, it did not create total equality. Older master runners are still competing with the younger masters who are going to have faster times.

To account for the effects of aging, a method has been devised to level the playing field and provide an equalized measure for runners of all ages. This method is called “Age Grading.” With an age grading system, the 60 year old runner would have as even a shot at placing in the overall standings as a 40 year old.

The first age grading tables were developed by the World Association of Veteran Athletes, which is the governing body for master’s track and field and long distance running. The first tables were published in 1989 and are updated about every five years with the latest developed in 2002.

These tables provide two standards that are applied to account for aging.  Open Class Standards represent the fastest possible time at present for a given distance without respective to age.  Age Standards are time standards for each age, for each distance, that represent what is believed to be the fastest possible time someone of that age can run the distance. Both Open Class and the Age Standards are determined from surveys of races and ages run throughout the world. This information is used to determine the best fit equation that provides the factors used to compute the age grade time and an athletes’ performance level percentage (PLP).

To show the effects of age grading for a 5K race; a 49 year old female who runs in 21:27 has an age graded time of 19:00, a 51 year old male who runs 19:00 has an age graded time of 16:28, a14 year old female who runs in 17:59 has an age graded time of 16:56, but a 25 year old male running a 17:00 minute 5K still has an age graded time of 17:00.

The PLP is a percentage that shows the achievement level with athletes with 100% representing the world record level, over 90% is world class, over 80% is national class, over 70% is regional class and over 60% local class. Using the same runners in the previous paragraph, The 49 year old female had a PLP of 77.9, 51 year old male 78.3, the 14 year old female 87.3 and the 25 year old male 75.7.

Age grade standards provide a method to see which athlete had the superior performance. But the use of age grading is not taking place without some confusion and controversy. Some runners feel they do not know who they are running against. It can be discomforting to find a runner who finished behind you in a race is scored ahead of you because of age grading. For this reason some running clubs are using a mixture of the standard open class and age brackets for individual races with age grading for running series or intra-club competitions.

Now any runner can compare one’s current performance to what they have done in the past, could do in their prime, or compare one’s performance to runners of any age!  For example, look at the male and female overall top 15 results for the recent Run for the Gecko 5K on May 13, and then the same results, age graded. 

Male
	Overall Race Results			Age Graded Results
Finish	Name	Age	Actual Time	Name	Age	Age Time
1	Austin Joiner	18	15:34	Austin Joiner	18	15:03
2	Lee Stephens	25	15:40	Lee Stephens	25	15:40
3	Jim VanVeen	23	16:34	David Putnam	47	16:00
4	John Culver	16	17:00	John Culver	16	16:00
5	Steve Hedgespeth	28	17:02	Mike Dahan	51	16:12
6	Doug Butler	43	17:35	Doug Butler	43	16:15
7	Frank Kapr	37	17:39	Brett Pigon	47	16:27
8	Christopher Rego	17	17:44	Loran Serwin	51	16:28
9	Sean Black	38	17:45	Brian Kessler	47	16:32
10	David Putnam	47	17:52	Deke Johnson	44	16:33
11	Mike Silva	16	17:54	Juan Vega	45	16:33
12	Rory Rowan	18	17:56	Jim VanVeen	23	16:34
13	Deke Johnson	44	18:03	Art Anderson	46	16:35
14	Ben Bearden	16	18:04	David Kilgore	14	16:40
15	Juan Vega	45	18:12	John Lothrop	45	16:42

Female
	Overall Race Results			Age Graded Results
Finish	Name	Age	Actual Time	Name	Age	Age Time
1	Kayla Hale	14	17:59	Kayla Hale	14	16:56
2	Devin Spoerle	16	19:21	Karen Minor	46	18:17
3	Helen Mann	15	19:38	Devin Spoerle	16	18:42
4	Jessica Stern	17	19:55	Helen Mann	15	18:45
5	Karen Minor	46	19:56	Carol Ball	49	19:00
6	Heather Bellardo	25	20:17	Juliana Stern	14	19:15
7	Juliana Stern	14	20:26	Jessica Stern	17	19:30
8	Janet Ritchie	26	20:33	Willy Moolenaar	65	19:40
9	Tracy Smith	33	20:34	Anne Doerflein	54	20:01
10	Sue Matschner	40	21:18	Melissa Jones	14	20:06
11	Melissa Jones	14	21:20	Heather Bellardo	25	20:17
12	Carol Ball	49	21:27	Christine Apsey	14	20:25
13	Lindsay Davis	41	21:32	Tracy Smith	33	20:29
14	Kelly Farris	23	21:33	Janet Ritchie	26	20:33
15	Lisa Roberts	38	21:41	Sue Matschner	40	20:34

As you can see, age grading provides an alternative method to show how runners compare to each other across the age groups. The results can be surprising and show just how well an older or younger runner really is doing compared to other runners of all ages.

So, next time you are lamenting over the “good old days” of fast times, realize that when age and performance are graded, these possibly ARE the “good old days”!

(Note:  Loran Serwin has devised a computer program that converts any race results into age grading.  He has also converted the 2005-2006 Runner of the Year male and female overall results in age grade order. Log on to www.spacecoastrunners.org under RUNNER OF THE YEAR for a peek.)