Age-related Changes in Marathon and Half-Marathon Performances

Abstract

We examined age-related changes in endurance performance of marathon and half-marathon finishers. A total of 405 515 running times were separated into groups based on age, sex, and distance. After exclusion of repetitive running times, 300 757 runners were analyzed by ANOVA (factors: age, sex). For each age group (six decades, 20-79 years), mean running times for all finishers, as well as top-ten performers, were assessed. As expected, age and sex had significant influence on running times. Female running times were about 10 % (marathon) and 13 % (half-marathon) above the corresponding times of their age-matched peers. The main finding is that in our sample of trained subjects significant age-related losses in endurance performance did not occur before the age of 50 years. Mean marathon and half-marathon times were virtually identical for the age groups from 20-49 years. Moreover, age-related performance decreases (p < 0.01) of the 50 - 69-year-old subjects were only in the range of 2.6 - 4.4 % per decade. These results suggest that the majority of older athletes are able to maintain a high degree of physical plasticity. The hypothesis that lifestyle factors have considerably stronger influences on functional capacity than the factor age is also supported by these findings from physically active and fit elderly.

Trends in Triathlon Performance: Effects of Sex and Age

“…Age-related declines in endurance and ultra-endurance performance have been well described in the literature for running [24,35,38,54,83,89,90,91] , cycling [92,93,94,95] , swimming [83,85] and more recently, for triathlon. [34,79,92,96,97,98] Endurance and ultra-endurance performance appears to be maintained until approximately 35-40 years of age, followed by modest decreases until 50 years of age and a progressive decrease in performance thereafter.…”

Age-related changes in 100-km ultra-marathon running performance

“…In recent years, there has been an increased interest in investigating the effects of aging on endurance performance in runners (Jokl et al 2004;Leyk et al 2007Leyk et al , 2009; Lepers and Cattagni 2011;Seals 2003, 2008;Wright and Perricelli 2008). Over the last decade, the participation of master athletes (>40 years old) in these events has increased, especially in the longer running distances such as half-marathons (Leyk et al 2007(Leyk et al , 2009, marathons (Burfoot 2007;Jokl et al 2004;Lepers and Cattagni 2011;Leyk et al 2007Leyk et al , 2009) and ultra-marathons (Hoffman 2010;Hoffman and Wegelin 2009;Hoffman et al 2010).…”

“…Over the last decade, the participation of master athletes (>40 years old) in these events has increased, especially in the longer running distances such as half-marathons (Leyk et al 2007(Leyk et al , 2009, marathons (Burfoot 2007;Jokl et al 2004;Lepers and Cattagni 2011;Leyk et al 2007Leyk et al , 2009) and ultra-marathons (Hoffman 2010;Hoffman and Wegelin 2009;Hoffman et al 2010). A recent analysis of the participation trend at the 'New York City Marathon' from 1980Marathon' from to 2009 showed that over the three decades, the percent of finishers at the 'New York City Marathon' younger than 40 years decreased, while the percent of master finishers increased for both males and females (Lepers and Cattagni 2011).…”

“…Generally, the peak endurance performance is maintained until the age of 30 to 35 years, followed by a moderate decrease until the age of 50 to 60 years and then a progressively steeper decline after the age of 70 to 75 years, independent of the distance and the discipline (Baker et al 2003;Balmer et al 2008;Donato et al 2003;Fleg and Lakatta 1988;Fuchi et al 1989;Hunter et al 2011;Leyk et al 2007Leyk et al , 2009Seals 2003, 2008;Wright and Perricelli 2008). Even if it is possible for a 70-year-old male athlete to finish a marathon in less than 3 h (Trappe 2007), the gradient in declining performances increased notably after the age of 55 years for both sexes, and female performances tended to decline faster than those of males, especially in running (Ransdell et al 2009).…”

“…Most studies examining endurance running performances in master athletes have focused on marathoners (Burfoot 2007;Jokl et al 2004; Lepers and Cattagni 2011;Leyk et al 2007Leyk et al , 2009Trappe 2007). Marathon running performance for males and females is generally fastest, as indicated by world record performances, when individuals are 25 to 35 years old.…”