Equivalencies of Time

March 1, 2018

Certain tables tell you equivalencies of times for different distances as well as different ages. For example, if a runner finished a 10 mile race in one hour and 15 seconds, that effort is considered equivalent to a 2:49:38 in the marathon. To give another example, my 4:28 mile at age 32 is equivalent to a 5:49 mile at age 66, 5:56.6 at age 68 (my age as of typing this sentence), and so on. There are various sources that calculate equivalencies. In 1982, I used a book I purchased in 1970, Computerized Running Training Programs, by James B. Gardiner and J. Gerry Purdy, published by TAFNEWS PRESS that same year. According to CRTP tables (see images above), my 1:16:37 half marathon is equivalent to a 2:41:32 marathon. My 57:53 10 mile is equivalent to about a 2:42:48 marathon. Two more current sources for such calculations are Masters Athletics and WMA Age-grading Calculator, which had my 1:16:37 equivalent to 2:41:47 and 2:41:27. Each source is within seconds of the other two.

But I thought I could run 2:36:36, because 1) I thought two months of hard training between the Mercer Island Half Marathon and Boston would bump me into a faster time than what the tables predicted, and 2) that's what I wanted to run: a marathon at 6:00/mile.

Which I now call Wishful Thinking.

Maybe I could have achieved 2:41. It might even have been possible to dip below 2:40 if my strategy was well-planned, taking into consideration the weather, hydration, nutrition, the nature of the course, and unknown variables I might have discovered by doing a little research ahead of time (something as simple as asking the veterans of Boston questions). I confess I thought I knew what I was doing and didn't bother with any of that. Of everything that should have been done by a smart racer, before and during the race, I either didn't do or did the exact opposite.

WMA Age-Graded Calculator

Masters Athletics Age-Graded Calculator