The Influence of Environmental Conditions on Pacing in Age Group Marathoners Competing in the “New York City Marathon”

Abstract

Background: The two aspects of the influence of environmental conditions on marathon running performance and pacing during a marathon have been separately and widely investigated. The influence of environmental conditions on the pacing of age group marathoners has, however, not been considered yet.Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between environmental conditions (i.e., temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, and cloud cover), gender and pacing of age group marathoners in the “New York City Marathon”.Methodology: Between 1999 and 2019, a total of 830,255 finishes (526,500 males and 303,755 females) were recorded. Time-adjusted averages of weather conditions for temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, and sunshine duration during the race were correlated with running speed in 5 km-intervals for age group runners in 10 years-intervals.Results: The running speed decreased with increasing temperatures in athletes of age groups 20–59 with a pronounced negative effect for men aged 30–64 years and women aged 40–64 years. Higher levels of humidity were associated with faster running speeds for both sexes. Sunshine duration and barometric pressure showed no association with running speed.Conclusion: In summary, temperature and humidity affect pacing in age group marathoners differently. Specifically, increasing temperature slowed down runners of both sexes aged between 20 and 59 years, whereas increasing humidity slowed down runners of <20 and >80 years old.

Prediction of Marathon Performance using Artificial Intelligence

“…From recreational runners of all ages to elite athletes, the objectives may differ widely, from being a finisher, to running the race as fast as possible, to winning it and/or breaking records (e.g., personal, national, world records) to win money (i.e., economic reasons) [5,6]. Although long-distance performances, as in the marathon, can be influenced by factors beyond the athlete's control (e.g., climate conditions, seasonal characteristics like temperature, humidity and barometric pressure…) [7,8], they mainly depend on personal characteristics (age, sex, physical qualities, psychological traits and states…) and training variables (tactics, pacing strategy…) [4,[9][10][11][12][13]. For example, Weiss et al [7] showed that temperature and humidity affect pacing in age group marathoners differently (i.e., slowing down for runners of both sexes aged 20-59 with increasing temperature, and slowing down for runners aged under 20 and over 80 with increasing humidity).…”

“…Although long-distance performances, as in the marathon, can be influenced by factors beyond the athlete's control (e.g., climate conditions, seasonal characteristics like temperature, humidity and barometric pressure…) [7,8], they mainly depend on personal characteristics (age, sex, physical qualities, psychological traits and states…) and training variables (tactics, pacing strategy…) [4,[9][10][11][12][13]. For example, Weiss et al [7] showed that temperature and humidity affect pacing in age group marathoners differently (i.e., slowing down for runners of both sexes aged 20-59 with increasing temperature, and slowing down for runners aged under 20 and over 80 with increasing humidity). Other studies [12,13] indicated that pacing strategy which may also be dependent on the profile of the runners in relation to age (e.g., pace changing is more prominent in younger and older marathoners compared to the other age groups of marathoners) [12] or sex (e.g., men tend to opt more for a "risk" strategy by starting out at fast speeds and then modulating or slowing down afterwards, whereas women tend to err on the side of caution) [13].…”

“…[4,[9][10][11][12][13]. For example, Weiss et al [7] showed that temperature and humidity affect pac…”

“…Although long-distance performances, as in the marathon, can be influenced by factors beyond the athlete’s control (e. g. , climate conditions, seasonal characteristics like temperature, humidity and barometric pressure, etc.) 7 8 , they mainly depend on personal characteristics (age, sex, physical qualities, psychological traits and states, etc.) and training variables (tactics, pacing strategy, etc.)…”

“…4 9 10 11 12 13 . For example, Weiss et al 7 showed that temperature and humidity affect pacing in age group marathoners differently (i. e ., slowing down for runners of both sexes aged 20–59 with increasing temperature, and slowing down for runners aged under 20 and over 80 with increasing humidity). Other studies 12 13 indicated that pacing strategy which may also be dependent on the profile of the runners in relation to age (e. g ., pace changing is more prominent in younger and older marathoners compared to the other age groups of marathoners) 12 or sex (e. g ., men tend to opt more for a “risk” strategy by starting out at fast speeds and then modulating or slowing down afterwards, whereas women tend to err on the side of caution) 13 .…”