Running Level is a data-driven running standards platform created by Michael Clark in 2020. Our 2026 standards analyse 3,485,563 runs submitted by 1,183,140 users from 2020 to 2026 to compare your running performance with other runners, accounting for gender, distance and age.
Running Level covers 32 standard distances across sprints, middle-distance running, road races and ultramarathons, including 100m, 400m, 1 mile, 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon.
We build our current standards from carefully filtered calculator results submitted by runners. We check for implausible times, duplicates, automated entries and unusual submission patterns before fitting the models. This allows us to publish community-based standards from short sprints to long endurance events. Where a distance does not have its own model, we estimate its standards from related events.
The Running Level Calculator takes in your distance and time and compares your performance with runners of the same gender and age. It can then tell you your percentile and level from Beginner to Elite plus extra stats like equivalent times for other distances, and estimates such as VO2 max. Then our Running Times allow you to browse and analyse male and female standards across ages and distances.
Running Level has used age adjusted percentile ratings since its launch in 2020. The framework comes from Strength Level, which introduced data-backed percentile standards in 2015 using levels from Beginner to Elite. Using a percentile scale makes performance comparable across distances while accounting for gender and age. Beginner means faster than 5% of runners, Novice 20%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 80%, and Elite 95%.
Learn more about using Running Level in our FAQ, or read more about Strength Level.
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.
On , we released our first running standards based on times submitted by Running Level users. This included our first 100m track standards built directly from users' 100m times, alongside individual models for 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m. Each event gained standards shaped by the runners taking part, giving sprinters and middle-distance runners new targets to work towards.
We explored several approaches before developing a model for each distance. We adapted these models to reflect the full range of performances, including the fast top end, and brought them together into one set of standards. This gave us a way to represent each event while keeping the same clear Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Elite levels.
For endurance running, we studied results submitted at different distances to connect 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon performances more consistently. We also used male 50 mile and 100k results to develop the model beyond marathon distance. Together, this work created a new generation of community standards covering everything from a short sprint to a 100 mile run.
In , a 70-year-old runner's report led us to anchor mile standards directly instead of anchoring them to 1500m track times. This increased the men's age-70 Advanced mile time from 6:58 to 7:23, matching results from the NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile more closely, and reduced error for most of our users. For 5k, we kept the broader sample for the middle and faster times, using runners who also submitted other distances for the slower half. On , we then fixed age adjustments that incorrectly increased speeds for longer runs at the same age and level, changing pace by more than 5% for about 3% of standards.
Michael Clark is Running Level's founder and lead developer. He launched Strength Level in 2007. He holds a master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and previously worked as a Technical Lead at Redgate Software. Read more about Michael Clark's work, or get in touch to report a problem or suggest an improvement through our feedback form, email support@strengthlevel.com, or Facebook page.
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.
Running Level continues to improve through feedback from runners, coaches and researchers.