Performance and sex difference in ultra-triathlon performance from Ironman to Double Deca Iron ultra-triathlon between 1978 and 2013

Rüst, Christoph Alexander; Rosemann, Thomas; Knechtle, Beat

doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-219

Cited by 10 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The length of the race distance seems to be important for the trend in sex difference in performance. In long-distance triathlon races, women could reduce the sex difference only in shorter distances (e.g., Ironman triathlon) but not in longer triathlon distances (e.g., Double Iron ultra-triathlon and longer distances), where the sex difference remained unchanged or even increased over time, especially for the longer distances (16,28,30,33).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Participation and Performance Trends in the ITU Duathlon World Championship From 2003 to 2017

Nikolaïdis¹,

Villiger

Knechtle

2021

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

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Participation and performance across years have been studied extensively in various endurance and ultraendurance sports; however, less information exists with regards to duathlon (i.e., Run 1, Bike, and Run 2). The aim of this study was to examine performance and participation trends of duathletes competing either to short (10-km Run 1, 50-km Bike, and 5-km Run 2) or to long distance (10-km Run 1, 150-km Bike, and 30-km Run 2) in the Powerman World Championship "

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The trend in sex difference in endurance and ultra-endurance over time seems to depend on the length of the performance, the kind of the discipline, and the MWR. Generally, women reduced the gap to men over time in long-distance swimming (4,14,29), long-distance cycling (31), longdistance running (15,24), and long-distance triathlon (16,19,30).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Participation and Performance Trends in the ITU Duathlon World Championship From 2003 to 2017

Nikolaïdis¹,

Villiger

Knechtle

2021

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

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“…To date, the edge of human limits in ultra-triathlon was the Double Deca Iron ultra-triathlon covering the total distance of 20 Ironman triathlon races (Lenherr et al 2012; Rüst et al 2014). However, in 2013, one ultra-triathlete completed for the first time in history the total distance of 33 Ironman distances within 33 consecutive days (http://pse33.ca/intro/).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

33 Ironman triathlons in 33 days–a case study

et al. 2014

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This case report presents the performance of an athlete who completed for the first time in history the total distance of 33 Ironman triathlons within 33 consecutive days. The athlete finished the total distance of 7,458 km (i.e. 125 km swimming, 5,940 km cycling and 1,393 km running) within a total time of 410 h and a mean time of 12 h 27 min per Ironman distance. During the 33 days, the athlete became slower in swimming (r2 = 0.27, p = 0.0019), transition time 1 (r2 = 0.66, p < 0.001), and transition time 2 (r2 = 0.48, p < 0.0001). However, in cycling (r2 = 0.07, p = 0.13), running (r2 = 0.04, p = 0.25) and overall race time (r2 = 0.10, p = 0.069), the athlete was able to maintain his performance during the 33 days. The coefficients of variation (CV) for the split times in swimming, cycling, running and overall race times were very low (i.e. 2.7%, 3.2%, 4.7%, and 2.7%, respectively) whereas the CV for transition times 1 and 2 were considerably higher (i.e. 25.5% and 55.5%, respectively). During the 33 days, body mass decreased from 83.0 kg to 80.5 kg (r2 = 0.55, p < 0.0001). Plasma [Na+] remained within the reference range, creatine kinase, blood glucose and liver enzymes were minimally elevated above the reference range after four of five stages where blood analyses were performed. This case report shows that this athlete finished 33 Ironman triathlons within 33 consecutive days with minor variations over time (i.e. even pacing) in both split times and overall race times. This performance was most probably due to the high experience of the athlete, his pacing strategy and the stable environmental conditions.

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“…Women therefore reduced the performance difference between sexes only in Ironman triathlons, where their participation rate was the highest among ultratriathlons. 30 Furthermore, the sex difference in performance increased with increasing length of an event, from ~11.3% in the Ironman World Championship Hawaii “Ironman Hawaii” 29 to ~30% in Deca Iron ultratriathlons. 26 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“… 26 Of interest are the split times in the ultratriathlon, as they can be directly compared to ultrarunning. Rüst et al 30 found a decrease in the performance difference between sexes in running split times in Ironman triathlons but not in Double, Triple, or Deca Iron ultratriathlons. Women therefore reduced the performance difference between sexes only in Ironman triathlons, where their participation rate was the highest among ultratriathlons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance differences between sexes in 50-mile to 3,100-mile ultramarathons

Zingg¹,

Knechtle

Rosemann³

et al. 2015

OAJSM

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Anecdotal reports have assumed that women would be able to outrun men in long-distance running. The aim of this study was to test this assumption by investigating the changes in performance difference between sexes in the best ultramarathoners in 50-mile, 100-mile, 200-mile, 1,000-mile, and 3,100-mile events held worldwide between 1971 and 2012. The sex differences in running speed for the fastest runners ever were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance with subsequent Tukey–Kramer posthoc analysis. Changes in sex difference in running speed of the annual fastest were analyzed using linear and nonlinear regression analyses, correlation analyses, and mixed-effects regression analyses. The fastest men ever were faster than the fastest women ever in 50-mile (17.5%), 100-mile (17.4%), 200-mile (9.7%), 1,000-mile (20.2%), and 3,100-mile (18.6%) events. For the ten fastest finishers ever, men were faster than women in 50-mile (17.1%±1.9%), 100-mile (19.2%±1.5%), and 1,000-mile (16.7%±1.6%) events. No correlation existed between sex difference and running speed for the fastest ever (r2=0.0039, P=0.91) and the ten fastest ever (r2=0.15, P=0.74) for all distances. For the annual fastest, the sex difference in running speed decreased linearly in 50-mile events from 14.6% to 8.9%, remained unchanged in 100-mile (18.0%±8.4%) and 1,000-mile (13.7%±9.1%) events, and increased in 3,100-mile events from 12.5% to 16.9%. For the annual ten fastest runners, the performance difference between sexes decreased linearly in 50-mile events from 31.6%±3.6% to 8.9%±1.8% and in 100-mile events from 26.0%±4.4% to 24.7%±0.9%. To summarize, the fastest men were ~17%–20% faster than the fastest women for all distances from 50 miles to 3,100 miles. The linear decrease in sex difference for 50-mile and 100-mile events may suggest that women are reducing the sex gap for these distances.

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Performance and sex difference in ultra-triathlon performance from Ironman to Double Deca Iron ultra-triathlon between 1978 and 2013

Cited by 10 publications

References 41 publications

Participation and Performance Trends in the ITU Duathlon World Championship From 2003 to 2017

Participation and Performance Trends in the ITU Duathlon World Championship From 2003 to 2017

33 Ironman triathlons in 33 days–a case study

Performance differences between sexes in 50-mile to 3,100-mile ultramarathons

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