James Joyce Ramble 10K 2016

USATF National Masters 10K Championship

Sunday, April 24, 2016, Recap by Michael Pelletier

The North Shore Striders 70+ team of Michael Pelletier, George Geis, andDavid Newhall competed in the USATF Masters National 10K Championship on Sunday, April 24^th at the James Joyce Ramble. Thomas McMahon couldn’t find any NS Striders to join him on a 60+ team and had to run solo. Tom was kind enough to serve as our coach and designated driver in addition to running the race. The North Shore Striders 70+ team finished 5^th in their division behind teams from the New England 65+ Club, Shore A.C. (New Jersey), the Atlanta Track Club (Georgia), and Clifton Road Runners (New Jersey).

Runners competing in any of the USATF Masters National Championships (including all of the Masters runners) are considered elite and are accorded a special registration area for team check-in and uniform inspection. The 198 runners in the Masters National Championships lined up in the elite corral and were given a separate start 5 minutes before the 1000+ runners of the non-elite race began their race.

With a five-minute head start on the non-elite field, the four of us were to the 1- mile mark before the lead pack caught up to us. After 1 mile, we had the unique experience of being passed by probably 700 runners in the remaining five miles of the race. But on the plus side, the younger runners give a lot of encouragement to us older runners as they pass. And the younger runners know we are running in the Masters Championship because each Master is required to wear a number on his or her back clearly stating the Master’s age group.

Place in National Championship among all Masters by Age-graded Results	Age-graded result*	Name	Gun Time	Place in 70+ Division
168	67.16 %	Michael Pelletier	55:56	19th
178	63.71 %	George Geis	59:52	22nd
182	62:01 %	David Newhall	59:00	20th
187	59:07 %	Thomas McMahon	58:12

Age grading is a way to adjust an athlete’s performance according to age and gender. The age-grading tables were developed by the World Association of Veteran Athletes, the world governing body for track and field, long distance running and race walking for veteran athletes. The tables were first published in 1989.

The tables work by recording the world record performance for each age at each distance, for men and women.

For example, the world record for a 53 year old woman running a 10km is 35:01. So if a 53 year old woman finishes a 10km in 45:18, she has an age-graded performance of 77.3% (which is 35:01 divided by 45:18).

Age grading allows you to judge your performance, using an achievement percentile, without bias for gender or the aging process (in other words, you are measured against a specific standard for your age and sex).  These percentiles can be interpreted as follows:

• Over 90% — World Class
• Over 80% — National Class
• Over 70% — Regional Class
• Over 60% — Local Class

Based on the age-graded results from the 10K National Masters Championship, the NSS Superveterans remain solidly between Local and Regional Class.