The age of peak performance in women and men duathletes - The paradigm of short and long versions in "Powerman Zofingen".

PURPOSE

The age of peak performance (APP) has been studied extensively in various endurance and ultra-endurance sports; however, less information exists in regard to duathlon (ie, Run1, Bike, and Run2). The aim of the present study was to assess the APP of duathletes competing either in a short (ie, 10 km Run1, 50 km Bike, and 5 km Run2) or a long distance (ie, 10 km Run1, 150 km Bike, and 30 km Run2) race.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

We analyzed 6,671 participants (women, n=1,037, age 36.6±9.1 years; men, n=5,634, 40.0±10.0 years) in "Powerman Zofingen" from 2003 to 2017.

RESULTS

Considering the finishers in 5-year age groups, in the short distance, a small main effect of sex on race time was observed (<0.001, η =0.052) with men (171.7±20.9 min) being faster than women (186.0±21.5 min) by -7.7%. A small main effect of age group on race was shown (<0.001, η =0.049) with 20-24 years being the fastest and 70-74 years the slowest. No sex × age group interaction was found (=0.314, η =0.003). In the long distance, a small main effect of sex on race time was observed (<0.001, η =0.021) with men (502.8±56.8 min) being faster than women (544.3±62.8 min) by -7.6%. A large main effect of age group on race time was shown (<0.001, η =0.138) with age group 25-29 years the fastest and age group 70-74 years the slowest. A small sex × age group interaction on race time was found (<0.001, η =0.013) with sex difference ranging from -22.4% (15-19 age group) to -6.6% (30-34 age group).

CONCLUSION

Based on these findings, it was concluded an older APP in the long than in the short distance was seen in "Powerman Zofingen." This indicates that APP in duathlon follows a similar trend as in endurance and ultra-endurance running and triathlon, ie, the longer the distance, the older the APP.