Women Reduce the Performance Difference to Men with Increasing Age in Ultra-Marathon Running

Abstract

Age and sex are well-known factors influencing ultra-marathon race performance. The fact that women in older age groups are able to achieve a similar performance as men has been documented in swimming. In ultra-marathon running, knowledge is still limited. The aim of this study was to analyze sex-specific performance in ultra-marathon running according to age and distance. All ultra-marathon races documented in the online database of the German Society for Ultra-Marathon from 1964 to 2017 for 50-mile races (i.e., 231,980 records from 91,665 finishers) and from 1953 to 2017 for 100-mile races (i.e., 107,445 records from 39,870 finishers) were analyzed. In 50-mile races, race times were 11.74 ± 1.95 h for men and 12.31 ± 1.69 h for women. In 100-mile races, race times were 26.6 ± 3.49 h for men and 27.47 ± 3.6 h for women. The sex differences decreased with older age and were smaller in 100-mile (4.41%) than in 50-mile races (9.13%). The overall age of peak performance was 33 years for both distances. In summary, women reduced the performance difference to men with advancing age, the relative difference being smaller in 100-mile compared to 50-mile races. These findings might aid coaches and ultra-marathon runners set long-term training goals considering their sex and age.

Tower Running—Participation, Performance Trends, and Sex Difference

“…Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate participation and performance trends in tower running, with the hypothesis that men would also be faster than women in this discipline. Regarding age groups, we expected that women might close the performance gap in the older groups as already shown in long distance races [9].…”

“…Another explanation could be the men-to-women ratio by age group. When female and male age group ultra-marathoners were investigated, women could close the gap to men in older age groups (>60 years) and longer race distances (i.e., 100 miles compared with 50 miles) [9]. This relative improvement in female performance at higher ages is most likely due to the change in the men-to-women ratio in older age groups.…”

“…It is well-known that men are faster than women from 5 km to marathon [7], and in ultra-marathon running [8]. However, women were able to reduce the gap with men in ultra-marathon running, with increasing age and at longer race distances [9].…”

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

“…All data were obtained from the Deutsche Ultramarathon Vereinigung (DUV) website where all the race results of ultramarathons are recorded (https://statistik.d-u-v.org/index.php). The DUV is the largest ultra-running database worldwide, containing more than 5.8 million performances of more than 1.4 million runners in approximately 60,000 ultramarathon events and is widely used to gain insights in participation and performance trends in ultra-running (www.ultra-marathon.org/) [3,16,17]. A computer script was written to retrieve a list for every event recorded on the website.…”

“…As outlined, the participation and performance trends of ultra-endurance running are well described in the adult population [12,13], as well as the performance differences among sexes [14,15]; however, very little is known about childhood participation in ultra-endurance running events and if, indeed, they should be participating in them at all [16]. For ultra-marathons, mainly the aspects of age [4,17] and nationality [18,19] have been investigated. One concern is that running and training for ultra-endurance distances at a young age can have acute negative effects on an immature or developing muscular skeletal system or another organ system.…”