The Effects of Temperature on Marathon Runners' Performance

Martin, David E.; Buoncristiani, John F.

doi:10.1080/09332480.1999.10542170

Cited by 10 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thus, relative humidity may exert more influence on winning times in the Boston Marathon as temperatures warm in the future. Additionally, the effects of particular weather conditions on marathon winners can vary depending on the location of the race and the time period studied, as is suggested by our results in combination with those of previous studies [3], [4], [6], [8]. For example, we found that wind had a significant effect on winning times in the Boston Marathon (Table 1, Figure 3b).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Previous studies have shown that relatively modest increases in race-day temperatures can slow marathon performances [6], [7], [8]. However, despite significant warming in Boston since 1933, large variation in daily temperatures (an order of magnitude larger than variation in annual temperatures) has masked any changes in winning times associated with long-term changes in temperatures on race day.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of Warming Temperatures on Winning Times in the Boston Marathon

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is not known whether global warming will affect winning times in endurance events, and counterbalance improvements in race performances that have occurred over the past century. We examined a time series (1933–2004) from the Boston Marathon to test for an effect of warming on winning times by men and women. We found that warmer temperatures and headwinds on the day of the race slow winning times. However, 1.6°C warming in annual temperatures in Boston between 1933 and 2004 did not consistently slow winning times because of high variability in temperatures on race day. Starting times for the race changed to earlier in the day beginning in 2006, making it difficult to anticipate effects of future warming on winning times. However, our models indicate that if race starting times had not changed and average race day temperatures had warmed by 0.058°C/yr, a high-end estimate, we would have had a 95% chance of detecting a consistent slowing of winning marathon times by 2100. If average race day temperatures had warmed by 0.028°C/yr, a mid-range estimate, we would have had a 64% chance of detecting a consistent slowing of winning times by 2100.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Warming Temperatures on Winning Times in the Boston Marathon

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Previous studies have evaluated various marathons, both those within the WMM as well as other venues, demonstrating that performance of all finishers is inversely affected by air temperatures [ 6 – 9 ] but these studies have not evaluated other course factors or compared finish times between races. In the current study we analyzed the top 10 male and 10 female finishers to compare race performance between the WMM events.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Air temperature, humidity and air pollution can influence marathon race performance, affecting both genders equally, with cooler temperatures (5–10 degrees C) being most influential for better performance [ 6 – 9 ] by the fastest runners [ 7 , 8 ]. While warmer temperatures can impair thermoregulation [ 10 ], Marino, Lamber [ 11 ] demonstrated that African runners, in part due to their smaller body size, had improved performance in warm humid versus cooler weather conditions compared to Caucasian runners.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Boston Marathon versus the World Marathon Majors

Maffetone

Malcata

Rivera³

et al. 2017

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Boston Marathon course is deemed ineligible for world record status due to its unidirectional nature and excessive negative elevation change, yet performance times across the World Marathon Majors (WMM) races have not been compared.PurposeTo compare finish times across WMM races for Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York Marathons.MethodsRace times of the top 10 male and 10 female finishers were analyzed from 2005 to 2014 using the high-performance mixed linear model procedure in the Statistical Analysis System. Venue-to-venue comparisons, as well as comparisons between Boston and other WMM races, with and without factors of temperature, humidity and altitude change were examined.ResultsPerformance from 2005 to 2014 in the WMM races was found to improve at a rate of ~1% each 7 years. Despite its higher variability, comparison between Boston’s estimated mean finishing time and all other venues revealed moderate positive differences, indicating the Boston event to be typically slower than other venues.ConclusionsAcross the 10-year study period, performance times improved ~1% each 7 years for both genders for the WMM, with the Boston Marathon being slower on average than other WMM venues. Weather rather than course metrics appeared to impact performance times most.

show abstract

“…Our study is the first to our knowledge to analyse the exhaustiveness of all marathon finishers' performances in the three major European (Berlin, Paris and London, which were not previously analysed) and three American marathons. Previous studies have mostly analysed American marathons including Chicago, Boston and New York that are analysed in the present paper [9] , [11] – [15] , but they have only included the performances of the top 3 males and females finishers as well as the 25 th -, 100 th -, and 300 th - place finishers [11] , [13] – [15] . In the present study we analysed the total number of finishers in order to exhaustively quantify the effect of climate on runners from all performance levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Environmental Parameters on Marathon Running Performance

Helou

Tafflet²,

Berthelot³

et al. 2012

PLoS ONE

160

189

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThe objectives of this study were to describe the distribution of all runners' performances in the largest marathons worldwide and to determine which environmental parameters have the maximal impact.MethodsWe analysed the results of six European (Paris, London, Berlin) and American (Boston, Chicago, New York) marathon races from 2001 to 2010 through 1,791,972 participants' performances (all finishers per year and race). Four environmental factors were gathered for each of the 60 races: temperature (°C), humidity (%), dew point (°C), and the atmospheric pressure at sea level (hPA); as well as the concentrations of four atmospheric pollutants: NO2 – SO2 – O3 and PM10 (μg.m−3).ResultsAll performances per year and race are normally distributed with distribution parameters (mean and standard deviation) that differ according to environmental factors. Air temperature and performance are significantly correlated through a quadratic model. The optimal temperatures for maximal mean speed of all runners vary depending on the performance level. When temperature increases above these optima, running speed decreases and withdrawal rates increase. Ozone also impacts performance but its effect might be linked to temperature. The other environmental parameters do not have any significant impact.ConclusionsThe large amount of data analyzed and the model developed in this study highlight the major influence of air temperature above all other climatic parameter on human running capacity and adaptation to race conditions.

show abstract

The Effects of Temperature on Marathon Runners' Performance

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Effects of Warming Temperatures on Winning Times in the Boston Marathon

Effects of Warming Temperatures on Winning Times in the Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon versus the World Marathon Majors

Impact of Environmental Parameters on Marathon Running Performance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About