Running Level is an age-adjusted running standards platform created by Michael Clark and launched in 2020. It helps runners compare times across distances including 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon using the same clear percentile scale as Strength Level.
Enter your distance, finish time, age and gender in the Running Level Calculator. The result compares your performance with runners of the same gender and age, reports your percentile and converts that percentile into a Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced or Elite level.
The model combines distributions of race performances with age adjustments and distance-conversion models. It can therefore compare unlike distances on a common scale and estimate equivalent race times, kilometre and mile paces, training paces, oxygen cost and effective VO2 max. The public running times show male and female standards across ages and distances.
Beginner means faster than 5% of runners, Novice 20%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 80%, and Elite 95%. These are population-percentile thresholds, not race qualification times or a promise of a particular training history.
This timeline is based on the original implementation history and public web archives. It separates the statistical work from the date the site was first promoted publicly.
Strength Level defined Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Elite at the 5th, 20th, 50th, 80th and 95th percentiles. Running Level later carried that exact framework from strength into endurance sport so a performance could be understood with the same five levels. See the Strength Level standards timeline.
Development began in October with a calculator that could solve for missing distance, time or speed and estimate an equivalent 5K time. On , the first age-adjusted race percentile was connected to Strength Level's five-level converter.
Public standards tables followed on , with finish-time and pace standards for male and female runners across different ages. Strength Level introduced Running Level to its users on , marking the public launch. Compare the current calculator with the earliest useful public archive.
The standards section became Running Times, with dedicated pages for distances from short road races to ultramarathons. World-record references were added to help readers distinguish population standards from the edge of recorded human performance.
A site switcher connected Running Level with Strength Level, Rowing Level, Cycling Level and Swimming Level. By then all five sites used the same explicit 5%, 20%, 50%, 80% and 95% performance language, making the meaning of each level consistent across strength and cardio sports.
Michael Clark created Running Level and is its lead developer. He holds a master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and previously worked as a Technical Lead at Redgate Software. Michael designed the site's performance model and leads its software development and operation. Read more about Michael Clark's work.
Strength Level Limited (company number 14076102) was incorporated in England and Wales on 28 April 2022. It operates Running Level and the wider Strength Level family of fitness standards websites.
We improve Running Level using feedback from runners, coaches and researchers. Report a problem or suggest an improvement through our feedback form, email support@strengthlevel.com, or contact us on Facebook.