World Single Age Records in Running From 5 km to Marathon

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between race times and age, in 1-year intervals, by using the world single age records, from 5 km to marathon running (i. e., 5 km, 4 miles, 8, 10, 12, 15 km, 10 miles, 20 km, half-marathon, 25 km, 30 km, and marathon). For each race, a regression model was fitted. Effects of sex, alone and in interaction with age, and the effect of country of origin on performance were examined in a multi-variable model. The relationship between age and race time was modeled through a 4th order-polynomial function. Women achieved their best half-marathon and marathon race time, respectively, 1 year and 3 years earlier in life than men. On the contrary, in the other races, the best women performances were achieved later in life than men (i.e., 4 miles and 30 km: 2 years later, 8 km: 3 years later, 15–20–25 km: 1 year later, 10 miles: 4 years) or at the same age (i.e., 5, 10, 12 km). Moreover, age of peak performance did not change monotonically with the distance of race. For all races, except 12 km, sex differences had an absolute maximum at old ages and a relative maximum near the age of peak performance. From 8 km onward, estimated sex differences were increasing with increasing race distance. Regarding country, runners from Canada were slower than runners from the United States of America in 5 km by 00:10:05 h:min:s (p < 0.001) and in half-marathon by 00:18:43 h:min:s (p < 0.01). On the contrary, in marathon, they were 00:18:43 h:min faster (p < 0.05). Moreover, in 10 miles, runners from Great Britain were 00:02:53 h:min:s faster (p < 0.05) than runners from the United States of America. In summary, differences seem to exist in the age of peak performance between women and men and for nearly all distances sex differences showed an absolute maximum at old ages and relative maximum near the age of peak performance. Thus, these findings highlight the need for sex-specific training programs, especially near the age of peak performance and for elder runners.

The Age-Related Performance Decline in Marathon Running: The Paradigm of the Berlin Marathon

“…It was acknowledged that if selected runners were analyzed (e.g., the fastest, top 10, or top 100), different findings would be expected. For instance, when the world records in marathon were considered by age, APP was also younger in women than in men (25 versus 28 years, respectively); however, APP was younger in both sexes—and closer to the age of peak maximal oxygen uptake—than in the present study [19]. Accordingly, it might be assumed that compared to elite runners, physiological characteristics had a smaller role on performance in recreational runners [32].…”

“…Women achieved their best half-marathon and marathon race time, respectively, 1-year and 3-years earlier in life than men. On the contrary, in the other races, the best female performances were achieved later in life than men [19].…”

Tower Running—Participation, Performance Trends, and Sex Difference

“…Distance running is of high popularity and includes different distances, from 5 to 10 km [1], half-marathon [2,3], marathon [2,4], and up to ultra-marathon of different distances [5,6]. 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].…”

Sub 3-Hour Marathon Runners for Five Consecutive Decades Demonstrate a Reduced Age-Related Decline in Performance

“…The age-related decline in endurance running performance has been extensively studied, especially for the marathon ( Stones and Kozma, 1980 ; Jokl et al, 2004 ; Leyk et al, 2007 ; Trappe, 2007 ; Lepers and Cattagni, 2012 ; Knechtle et al, 2014 , 2018 ; Lepers and Stapley, 2016 ). Fastest running marathon performances are generally observed at 25–35 years of age for both elite and non-elite runners ( Hunter et al, 2011 ; Nikolaidis et al, 2019 ).…”