Age-graded sub three marathoner

Well .. I didn't really think I was going to run Sub Three in Victoria but by one calculation that's exactly what I did.

It's the age-graded calculation.

My actual chip time was 3:16:38, which I'm very happy with, though of course I had planned to run faster. I can't ever think of finishing a race and not having thought I was going to go faster. It's important to be confident.

Victoria was my third fastest marathon and the fastest I have run in four years, when I set my current PB of 3:10 at the Gold Coast in Australia. To be fair, I haven't done much specific marathon training in the last four years but I'm fit and I always believe that I should be able to leverage my triathlon training into success across the sporting spectrum.

One of the stats from Victoria is that I finished 10th in my age group. While I no doubt have so much work to do, I'm encouraged by the prospect of finishing in the top five of a marathon equivalent to Victoria in the near future. I'm not defining 'near' at the moment.

One cool stat from the race is that of my age-graded time: 2:59:17!

Ha. I'm a Sub Three Marathoner.

I found an age-graded calculator at Runner's World and it offers the following explanation:

Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.

Age-graded scores have been categorized into these broad achievement levels:
100% = Approximate World Record Level
Over 90% = World Class
Over 80% = National Class
Over 70% = Regional Class
Over 60% = Local Class

To reach 100%, I'd only need to run 2:17. Hmmmmmmm.