Sex- and age-related differences in half-marathon performance and competitiveness in the world’s largest half-marathon – the GöteborgsVarvet

Marathon running performance slows in warm weather conditions, but the quantitative impact of weather has not been established. To quantify the impact of weather on marathon performance for different populations of runners. Marathon results and weather data were obtained for the Boston, New York, Twin Cities, Grandma's, Richmond, Hartford, and Vancouver Marathons for 36, 29, 24, 23, 6, 12, and 10 yr, respectively. The race results were broken into quartiles based on the wet-bulb globe temperature (Q1 5.1-10 degrees C, Q2 10.1-15 degrees C, Q3 15.1-20 degrees C, and Q4 20.1-25 degrees C). Analysis of the top three male and female finishers as well as the 25th-, 50th-, 100th-, and 300th-place finishers were compared with the course record and then contrasted with weather. Marathon performances of top males were slower than the course record by 1.7 +/- 1.5, 2.5 +/- 2.1, 3.3 +/- 2.0, and 4.5 +/- 2.3% (mean +/- SD) for Q1-Q4, respectively. Differences between Q4 and Q1, Q2, and between Q3, and Q1 were statistically different (P < 0.05). The top women followed a similar trend (Q1 3.2 +/- 4.9, Q2 3.2 +/- 2.9, Q3 3.8 +/- 3.2, and Q4 5.4 +/- 4.1% (mean +/- SD)), but the differences among quartiles were not statistically significant. The 25th-, 50th-, 100th-, and 300th-place finishers slowed more than faster runners as WBGT increased. For all runners, equivalence testing around a 1% indifference threshold suggests potentially important changes among quartiles independently of statistical significance. There is a progressive slowing of marathon performance as the WBGT increases from 5 to 25 degrees C. This seems true for men and women of wide ranging abilities, but performance is more negatively affected for slower populations of runners.

Knowledge of the age at which elite athletes achieve peak performance could provide important information for long-term athlete development programmes, event selection and strategic decisions regarding resource allocation.

The purposes of this study were to determine i) if there is a sex difference in the age of the elite marathon runners and ii) if the sex difference in performance altered across the years that women have participated in the marathon. Age at time of competition and running times of the first five placed male and female runners who competed in the seven marathons of the World Marathon Majors Series were analyzed. Data from as many years as was available online were retrieved so that 410 men and 410 women were included in the analysis. The marathons and years included the Berlin (1999-2009), Boston (2000-2009), Chicago (1997-2009), London (2001-2009), New York City (1990-2009), International Athletic Association Federation World Championship (1983, 1987, and every 2 yr from 1991), and Olympic (every 4 yr since 1984) marathons. Women were older than men (mean ± SD = 29.8 ± 4.2 vs 28.9 ± 3.8 yr), but for only two of the seven marathons, the Chicago and the London marathons (P < 0.05): the sex difference in age was not consistent across the years. There was no sex difference in age for the Berlin, Boston, New York City, World Championship, and Olympic marathons. Men were faster than women (11.6% ± 1.8%). The sex difference in running velocity varied across marathons (least for the World Championships, 10.2%) and also across years, but not systematically. This sex difference in running velocity increased from first to fifth place across all marathons. These data indicate that men and women physiologically peak at a similar age in marathon running performance. The sex difference in performance of elite marathon runners varied across years but has not systemically decreased or varied since the 1980s.