Will women outrun men in ultra-marathon road races from 50 km to 1,000 km?

Analysis of over 1 million race records shows runners from East African countries as the fastest in 50-km ultra-marathons

The 50-km ultra-marathon is a popular race distance, slightly longer than the classic marathon distance. However, little is known about the country of affiliation and age of the fastest 50-km ultra-marathon runners and where the fastest races are typically held. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate a large dataset of race records for the 50-km distance race to identify the country of affiliation and the age of the fastest runners as well as the locations of the fastest races. A total of 1,398,845 50-km race records (men, n = 1,026,546; women, n = 372,299) were analyzed using both descriptive statistics and advanced regression techniques. This study revealed significant trends in the performance of 50-km ultra-marathoners. The fastest 50-km runners came from African countries, while the fastest races were found to occur in Europe and the Middle East. Runners from Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, and Kenya were the fastest in this race distance. The fastest 50-km racecourses, providing ideal conditions for faster race times, are in Europe (Luxembourg, Belarus, and Lithuania) and the Middle East (Qatar and Jordan). Surprisingly, the fastest ultra-marathoners in the 50-km distance were found to fall into the age group of 20-24 years, challenging the conventional belief that peak ultra-marathon performance comes in older age groups. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the performance models in 50-km ultra-marathons and can serve as valuable insights for runners, coaches, and race organizers in optimizing training strategies and racecourse selection.

Do Sex Differences in Physiology Confer a Female Advantage in Ultra-Endurance Sport?

Ultra-endurance has been defined as any exercise bout that exceeds 6 h. A number of exceptional, record-breaking performances by female athletes in ultra-endurance sport have roused speculation that they might be predisposed to success in such events. Indeed, while the male-to-female performance gap in traditional endurance sport (e.g., marathon) remains at ~ 10%, the disparity in ultra-endurance competition has been reported as low as 4% despite the markedly lower number of female participants. Moreover, females generally outperform males in extreme-distance swimming. The issue is complex, however, with many sports-specific considerations and caveats. This review summarizes the sex-based differences in physiological functions and draws attention to those which likely determine success in extreme exercise endeavors. The aim is to provide a balanced discussion of the female versus male predisposition to ultra-endurance sport. Herein, we discuss sex-based differences in muscle morphology and fatigability, respiratory-neuromechanical function, substrate utilization, oxygen utilization, gastrointestinal structure and function, and hormonal control. The literature indicates that while females exhibit numerous phenotypes that would be expected to confer an advantage in ultra-endurance competition (e.g., greater fatigue resistance, greater substrate efficiency, and lower energetic demands), they also exhibit several characteristics that unequivocally impinge on performance (e.g., lower O₂-carrying capacity, increased prevalence of GI distress, and sex-hormone effects on cellular function/injury risk). Crucially, the advantageous traits may only manifest as ergogenic in the extreme endurance events which, paradoxically, are those that females less often contest. The title question should be revisited in the coming years, when/if the number of female participants increases.

Inspiratory and Lower-Limb Strength Importance in Mountain Ultramarathon Running. Sex Differences and Relationship with Performance

The study was aimed at comparing lower-limb strength and respiratory parameters between male and female athletes and their interaction with performance in a 107 km mountain ultramarathon. Forty seven runners (29 males and 18 females; mean ± SD age: 41 ± 5 years) were enrolled. Lower-limb strength assessment comprised a squat jump test, an ankle rebound test, and an isometric strength test. Respiratory assessment included pulmonary function testing and the measurement of maximal inspiratory pressure. Male athletes performed largely better in the squat jump (26 ± 4 vs. 21 ± 3 cm; p < 0.001; d = 1.48), while no sex differences were found in the other two lower-limb tests. Concerning the respiratory parameters, male athletes showed largely greater values in pulmonary expiratory variables: forced vital capacity (5.19 ± 0.68 vs. 3.65 ± 0.52 L; p < 0.001; d = 2.53), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (4.24 ± 0.54 vs. 2.97 ± 0.39 L; p < 0.001; d = 2.69), peak expiratory flow (9.9 ± 1.56 vs. 5.89 ± 1.39 L/min; p < 0.001; d = 2.77) and maximum voluntary ventilation in 12 s (171 ± 39 vs. 108 ± 23 L/min; p < 0.001; d = 1.93); while no sex differences were identified in maximal inspiratory pressure. Race time was associated with ankle rebound test performance (r = −0.390; p = 0.027), isometric strength test performance (r = −0.349; p = 0.049) and maximal inspiratory pressure (r = −0.544; p < 0.001). Consequently, it seems that athletes competing in mountain ultramarathons may benefit from improving lower-limb isometric strength, ankle reactive strength and inspiratory muscle strength. Nevertheless, further interventional studies are required to confirm these exploratory results. In addition, the fact that the magnitude of the sex difference for isometric strength was minor, as compared with the other strength tests, could represent one of the factors explaining why the performance gap between males and females is reduced in ultramarathons.

Age-related participation and performance trends of children and adolescents in ultramarathon running

Participation and performance trends as well as the performance differences among sexes in ultra-endurance running have been well described in the adult population; however, less information on such trends existed in youth ultramarathoners. The aim of the present study was to investigate the age-related participation and performance trends of children and adolescent ultramarathoner runners. Data on runners, younger than 19 years of age, competing from 1960 to 2018 in distance-limited ultramarathons of 50 km, 100 km, 50 miles and 100 miles, were analysed. During this period, the number of ultramarathon participation increased, most notably among boys, most runners originated from Europe, and the 50- and 100-km race distances were the most popular. Overall, male runners were faster than female runners, except in the case of European and Oceanian origin, where girls were faster over the 50-km race. The fastest male runners originated from Africa and the fastest girls from Oceania, and the average running speed has largely decreased for both sexes over calendar years. In summary, this study was the first to report details on participation and performance trends in youth ultramarathoners competing in distance-limited ultramarathons.

Participation and Performance Analysis in Children and Adolescents Competing in Time-Limited Ultra-Endurance Running Events

Ultra-endurance running is of increasing popularity in the adult population, mainly due to master runners older than 35 years of age. However, youth runners younger than 19 years of age are also competing in ultra-endurance events, and an increase has been observed in distance-limited events, but no data is available on time-limited ultra-endurance events in this age group. This study investigated participation and performance trends in time-limited ultra-endurance races, including multi-day events, in runners younger than 19 years of age. Between the period 1990 and 2018, the most popular events recorded a total of 214 finishes (from 166 unique finishers (UF)) for 6-h events, 247 (212 UF) for 12-h events, and 805 (582 UF) for 24-h events, respectively. The majority of athletes originated from Europe and North America. Only a minority participated in multi-day events. Overall, speed increased with age, but the overall performance speed decreased across calendar years for 6- and 24-h events as participation numbers grew. In summary, in youth ultra-endurance runners, differences were observed regarding participation and performance across the different time-limited events, the age of the athletes and their country of origin

The Relationship Between Anthropometric Variables and Race Performance

Introduction

The key elements of success in a given sports competition have become an area of interest for researchers. The reason for the success of Ethiopian runners was not proved scientifically. This study aimed at documenting the anthropometric parameters of 10,000 meter runners and to find out the association between such parameters and performances.

Methods

A descriptive field study was conducted. 32 elite 10,000 meter runners participated. The data were collected while the athletics team was preparing for the world athletics championship. The procedure was repeated three times for each individual. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 18. All the data were presented as mean ± S.D. The Pearson product-moment test was used to determine the correlation between the variables and finishing time. The level of significance for all statistical tests was set at p < 0.05.

Results

The experience of male and female athletes showed a negative association with finishing time. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between the age and running time in both sexes. A significant positive association of body weight to running time was observed in both sexes. Body height correlates positively to running time in males (p<0.05), but not in females. The length of the arm, the forearm, the leg in both sexes and length of the thigh in women had no significant association with finishing time. A smaller arm and calf circumferences have a positive effect on the performance of both sexes. Smaller thigh circumference showed a positive association with the performance of men.

Conclusion

The age of the runners did not correlate with their performance. The anthropometric variables displayed significantly higher values in men than in women. Experienced athletes performed better in both sexes. Anthropometric parameters may be useful for selection, prediction, improving running performance besides for preventing injuries and health risk assessment.

Superior Intrinsic Mitochondrial Respiration in Women Than in Men

Sexual dimorphism is apparent in humans, however, to date no studies have investigated mitochondrial function focusing on intrinsic mitochondrial respiration (i.e., mitochondrial respiration for a given amount of mitochondrial protein) and mitochondrial oxygen affinity (p50_mito) in relation to biological sex in human. A skeletal muscle biopsy was donated by nine active women, and ten men matched for maximal oxygen consumption (VO_2max) and by nine endurance trained men. Intrinsic mitochondrial respiration, assessed in isolated mitochondria, was higher in women compared to men when activating complex I (CI_P) and complex I+II (CI+II_P) (p < 0.05), and was similar to trained men (CI_P, p = 0.053; CI+II_P, p = 0.066). Proton leak and p50_mito were higher in women compared to men independent of VO_2max. In conclusion, significant novel differences in mitochondrial oxidative function, intrinsic mitochondrial respiration and p50_mito exist between women and men. These findings may represent an adaptation in the oxygen cascade in women to optimize muscle oxygen uptake to compensate for a lower oxygen delivery during exercise.

Physiology and Pathophysiology in Ultra-Marathon Running

In this overview, we summarize the findings of the literature with regards to physiology and pathophysiology of ultra-marathon running. The number of ultra-marathon races and the number of official finishers considerably increased in the last decades especially due to the increased number of female and age-group runners. A typical ultra-marathoner is male, married, well-educated, and ~45 years old. Female ultra-marathoners account for ~20% of the total number of finishers. Ultra-marathoners are older and have a larger weekly training volume, but run more slowly during training compared to marathoners. Previous experience (e.g., number of finishes in ultra-marathon races and personal best marathon time) is the most important predictor variable for a successful ultra-marathon performance followed by specific anthropometric (e.g., low body mass index, BMI, and low body fat) and training (e.g., high volume and running speed during training) characteristics. Women are slower than men, but the sex difference in performance decreased in recent years to ~10–20% depending upon the length of the ultra-marathon. The fastest ultra-marathon race times are generally achieved at the age of 35–45 years or older for both women and men, and the age of peak performance increases with increasing race distance or duration. An ultra-marathon leads to an energy deficit resulting in a reduction of both body fat and skeletal muscle mass. An ultra-marathon in combination with other risk factors, such as extreme weather conditions (either heat or cold) or the country where the race is held, can lead to exercise-associated hyponatremia. An ultra-marathon can also lead to changes in biomarkers indicating a pathological process in specific organs or organ systems such as skeletal muscles, heart, liver, kidney, immune and endocrine system. These changes are usually temporary, depending on intensity and duration of the performance, and usually normalize after the race. In longer ultra-marathons, ~50–60% of the participants experience musculoskeletal problems. The most common injuries in ultra-marathoners involve the lower limb, such as the ankle and the knee. An ultra-marathon can lead to an increase in creatine-kinase to values of 100,000–200,000 U/l depending upon the fitness level of the athlete and the length of the race. Furthermore, an ultra-marathon can lead to changes in the heart as shown by changes in cardiac biomarkers, electro- and echocardiography. Ultra-marathoners often suffer from digestive problems and gastrointestinal bleeding after an ultra-marathon is not uncommon. Liver enzymes can also considerably increase during an ultra-marathon. An ultra-marathon often leads to a temporary reduction in renal function. Ultra-marathoners often suffer from upper respiratory infections after an ultra-marathon. Considering the increased number of participants in ultra-marathons, the findings of the present review would have practical applications for a large number of sports scientists and sports medicine practitioners working in this field.

Sex Differences in World-Record Performance: The Influence of Sport Discipline and Competition Duration

The current review summarizes scientific knowledge concerning sex differences in world-record performance and the influence of sport discipline and competition duration. In addition, the way that physiological factors relate to sex dimorphism is discussed. While cultural factors played a major role in the rapid improvement of performance of women relative to men up until the 1990s, sex differences between the world’s best athletes in most events have remained relatively stable at approximately 8–12%. The exceptions are events in which upper-body power is a major contributor, where this difference is more than 12%, and ultraendurance swimming, where the gap is now less than 5%. The physiological advantages in men include a larger body size with more skeletal-muscle mass, a lower percentage of body fat, and greater maximal delivery of anaerobic and aerobic energy. The greater strength and anaerobic capacity in men normally disappear when normalized for fat-free body mass, whereas the higher hemoglobin concentrations lead to 5–10% greater maximal oxygen uptake in men with such normalization. The higher percentage of muscle mass in the upper body of men results in a particularly large sex difference in power production during upper-body exercise. While the exercise efficiency of men and women is usually similar, women have a better capacity to metabolize fat and demonstrate better hydrodynamics and more even pacing, which may be advantageous, in particular during long-lasting swimming competitions.

Women cross the 'Catalina Channel' faster than men

Open-water ultra-distance swimming has a long history where the ‘English Channel’ (~33 km) was crossed in 1875 for the first time. Nowadays, the three most challenging open-water swims worldwide are the 21-miles (34 km) ‘English Channel Swim’, the 20.1-miles (32.2 km) ‘Catalina Channel Swim’ and the 28.5-miles (45.9 km) ‘Manhattan Island Marathon Swim’, also called the ‘Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming’. Recent studies showed that women were able to achieve men’s performance in the ‘English Channel Swim’ or to even outperform men in the ‘Manhattan Island Marathon Swim’. However, the analysis of the ‘Catalina Channel Swim’ as part of the ‘Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming’ is missing. We investigated performance and sex difference in performance for successful women and men crossing the ‘Catalina Channel’ between 1927 and 2014. The fastest woman ever was ~22 min faster than the fastest man ever. Although the three fastest women ever were ~20 min faster than the three fastest men ever, the difference reached not statistical significance (p > 0.05). Similarly for the ten fastest ever, the ~1 min difference for women was not significant (p > 0.05). However, when the swimming times of the annual fastest women (n = 39) and the annual fastest men (n = 50) competing between 1927 and 2014 were compared, women (651 ± 173 min) were 52.9 min (16 ± 12%) faster than men (704 ± 279 min) (p < 0.0001). Across years, swimming times decreased non-linearly in the annual fastest men (polynomial 2nd degree) and women (polynomial 3rd degree) whereas the sex difference decreased linearly from 52.4% (1927) to 7.1% (2014). In summary, the annual fastest women crossed the ‘Catalina Channel’ faster than the annual fastest men. The non-linear decrease in swimming times suggests that female and male swimmers have reached a limit in this event. However, the linear decrease in the sex difference may indicate that women continuously narrow the gap to men.

Sex difference in top performers from Ironman to double deca iron ultra-triathlon

This study investigated changes in performance and sex difference in top performers for ultra-triathlon races held between 1978 and 2013 from Ironman (3.8 km swim, 180 km cycle, and 42 km run) to double deca iron ultra-triathlon distance (76 km swim, 3,600 km cycle, and 844 km run). The fastest men ever were faster than the fastest women ever for split and overall race times, with the exception of the swimming split in the quintuple iron ultra-triathlon (19 km swim, 900 km cycle, and 210.1 km run). Correlation analyses showed an increase in sex difference with increasing length of race distance for swimming (r²=0.67, P=0.023), running (r²=0.77, P=0.009), and overall race time (r²=0.77, P=0.0087), but not for cycling (r²=0.26, P=0.23). For the annual top performers, split and overall race times decreased across years nonlinearly in female and male Ironman triathletes. For longer distances, cycling split times decreased linearly in male triple iron ultra-triathletes, and running split times decreased linearly in male double iron ultra-triathletes but increased linearly in female triple and quintuple iron ultra-triathletes. Overall race times increased nonlinearly in female triple and male quintuple iron ultra-triathletes. The sex difference decreased nonlinearly in swimming, running, and overall race time in Ironman triathletes but increased linearly in cycling and running and nonlinearly in overall race time in triple iron ultra-triathletes. These findings suggest that women reduced the sex difference nonlinearly in shorter ultra-triathlon distances (ie, Ironman), but for longer distances than the Ironman, the sex difference increased or remained unchanged across years. It seems very unlikely that female top performers will ever outrun male top performers in ultratriathlons. The nonlinear change in speed and sex difference in Ironman triathlon suggests that female and male Ironman triathletes have reached their limits in performance.

Performance and sex difference in ultra-triathlon performance from Ironman to Double Deca Iron ultra-triathlon between 1978 and 2013

It was assumed that women would be able to outperform men in ultra-marathon running. The present study investigated the sex difference in performance for all ultra-triathlon distances from the Ironman distance (i.e. 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42 km running) in the ‘Ironman Hawaii’ to the Double Deca Iron ultra-triathlon distance (i.e. 76 km swimming, 3,600 km cycling and 840 km running) between 1978 and 2013. The changes in performance and in the sex difference in performance for the annual three fastest finishers were analysed using linear, non-linear and multi-variate regression analyses from 46,123 athletes (i.e. 9,802 women and 46,123 men). Women accounted for 11.9 ± 5.8% of the total field and their percentage was highest in ‘Ironman Hawaii’ (22.1%) and lowest in Deca Iron ultra-triathlon (6.5%). In ‘Ironman Hawaii’, the sex difference decreased non-linearly in swimming, cycling, running and overall race time. In Double Iron ultra-triathlon, the sex difference increased non-linearly in overall race time. In Triple Iron ultra-triathlon, the sex difference increased non-linearly in cycling and overall race time but linearly in running. For the three fastest finishers ever, the sex difference in performance showed no change with increasing race distance with the exception for the swimming split where the sex difference increased with increasing race distance (r² = 0.93, P = 0.001). The sex differences for the three fastest finishers ever for swimming, cycling, running and overall race times for all distances from Ironman to Deca Iron ultra-triathlon were 27.0 ± 17.8%, 24.3 ± 9.9%, 24.5 ± 11.0%, and 24.0 ± 6.7%, respectively. To summarize, these findings showed that women reduced the sex difference in the shorter ultra-triathlon distances (i.e. Ironman distance) but extended the sex difference in longer distances (i.e. Double and Triple Iron ultra-triathlon). It seems very unlikely that women will ever outperform men in ultra-triathlons from Ironman to Double Iron ultra-triathlon.

Changes in breaststroke swimming performances in national and international athletes competing between 1994 and 2011 -a comparison with freestyle swimming performances

Background

The purpose of the present study was to analyse potential changes in performance of elite breaststroke swimmers competing at national and international level and to compare to elite freestyle swimming performance.

Methods

Temporal trends in performance of elite breaststroke swimmers were analysed from records of the Swiss Swimming Federation and the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) World Swimming Championships during the 1994–2011 period. Swimming speeds of elite female and male breaststroke swimmers competing in 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m were examined using linear regression, non-linear regression and analysis of variance. Results of breaststroke swimmers were compared to results of freestyle swimmers.

Results

Swimming speed in both strokes improved significantly (p < 0.0001-0.025) over time for both sexes, with the exception of 50 m breaststroke for FINA men. Sex differences in swimming speed increased significantly over time for Swiss freestyle swimmers (p < 0.0001), but not for FINA swimmers for freestyle, while the sex difference remained stable for Swiss and FINA breaststroke swimmers. The sex differences in swimming speed decreased significantly (p < 0.0001) with increasing race distance.

Conclusions

The present study showed that elite male and female swimmers competing during the 1994–2011 period at national and international level improved their swimming speed in both breaststroke and freestyle. The sex difference in freestyle swimming speed consistently increased in athletes competing at national level, whereas it remained unchanged in athletes competing at international level. Future studies should investigate temporal trends for recent time in other strokes, to determine whether this improvement is a generalized phenomenon.