Recent studies showed that female runners reduced the performance gap to male runners in endurance running with increasing age and race distance. However, the investigated samples were generally small. To investigate this further, the present study examined sex differences by age across various race distances (5, 10 km, half-marathon, marathon, and ultra-marathon) using a large dataset of over 1,100,000 race records from Switzerland over two decades (1999–2019). The study explored performance and participation disparities between male and female runners by employing diverse methods, such as descriptive statistics, histograms, scatter and line plots, correlations, and a predictive machine learning model. The results showed that female runners were more prevalent in shorter races (5, 10 km, half-marathon) and outnumbered male runners in 5 km races. However, as the race distance increased, the male-to-female ratio declined. Notably, the performance gap between sexes reduced with age until 70 years, after which it varied depending on the race distance. Among participants over 75 years old, ultra-marathon running exhibited the smallest sex difference in performance. Elderly female ultra-marathoners (75 years and older) displayed a performance difference of less than 4% compared to male ultra-marathoners, which may be attributed to the presence of highly selected outstanding female performers.
BACKGROUND Several single race events (5 km, 10 km, half-marathon, marathon, ultra-marathon) have been analyzed in multiple studies. It is known that 5 km and 10 km races attract many athletes with a focus on women and that the top finishers are getting faster in 10 km races, while younger runners were the fastest. Regarding half-marathon and marathon races there is a focus on male participants, with less but faster marathoners compared to half-marathoners. Across years, the sex difference in performance decreased in both races. In ultra-marathon, an increase in participation numbers as well as in performance has been detected, with a focus on male finishers. The performance gap between men and women seems to be stable. In summary, we have a lot of single study results, but not the running trends for several running distances over 20 years and in a whole country. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is therefore to examine 5 km, 10 km, half-marathon, marathon and ultra-marathon races by age, sex, participation numbers and performance during two decades (1999-2019) for one country (Switzerland). METHODS We analyzed 1,172,836 finishers (370,517 women and 802,319 men) competing between 1999 and 2019 in 5 km, 10 km, half-marathon, marathon and ultra-marathon running races held in Switzerland. We used online available data about the athletes and examined total finishing numbers, sex, age and performances. In ultra-marathons, we performed a linear model as sensitivity analyses for change in running speed. Do-not-finishers were excluded. RESULTS The most frequented race was the half-marathon (33.1% of finishers), the less frequented was the ultra-marathon distance (8.5% of finishers). In most recent years, only the number of finishers in ultra-marathon, especially in trail runs increased. In total, there were more male finishers (68.4 %) than female finishers (31.6 %) and only in 5 km races, more women finished than men (55.3%). Men were faster than women and both sexes were running slower in all race distances across years. Athletes in 10 km races had the best performance within the five analyzed race distances. Median age increased with longer race distance and decreased in ultra-marathon in recent years. CONCLUSIONS In summary, finishing numbers especially in ultra-marathons increased with a focus on trail runs, female and male athletes had a declining performance across years in all race distances and men ran faster than women. Median age increased with longer race distance and showed a downtrend only in ultra-marathon in recent years.
BACKGROUND In recent decades the number of runners has increased significantly, but until now, we have yet to learn about the profile of participants and different types of running terrains and distances. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to compare road and trail-based races for different distances for a whole country (Switzerland) over two decades (1999-2019). METHODS This is a secondary data-based study. We considered a total of 1,172,474 race records (801,960 men and 370,514 women) from the finishers of the 5 km, 10 km, half-marathon, marathon, and ultra-marathon races in Switzerland between 1999 and 2019. Data included the athletes’ gender, age, race distance, and type of race (road or trail). The men-to-women ratio was estimated, and box plots were used to present differences according to gender, age groups, and race distances in both terrains. Pearson correlation was estimated. The confidence interval was fixed at 95%. RESULTS The men-to-women ratio has generally decreased in all race distances over the years. Runners competing in a road-based race were faster than those in a trail run. Men performed better than women independently of age, except those competing in a 10 km trail run. In road-based races, higher differences in participation between genders were shown for older marathoners. For trail runs, a higher men-to-women ratio was shown for older half-marathoners and participants in 10 km races. For 5 km, 10 km, half-marathon, and ultra-marathon races, a decrease in running speed difference were shown until the age of 50 years, while marathoners presented an increase in speed differences among genders over time. CONCLUSIONS Our study emphasizes the importance of tracking participation and performance trends over time, considering racecourse characteristics. This information could help inform future research and policy decisions related to sports participation and performance. CLINICALTRIAL -
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