Department of Sport Science, Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Department of Research and Development in Teacher Education, University College of Teacher Education, Tyrol, 6010 Innsbruck, Austria.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 14;19(20):13291. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013291.
Sex differences in anatomy and physiology are the primary underlying factor for distinctions in running performance. Overall participation in recreational running events has been dominated by males, although increasing female participation has been reported in recent years. The NURMI study participants filled in a survey following the cross-sectional study design with questions on sociodemographic data, running and racing motivations, training behaviors, and racing history and experience. Data analysis included 141 female and 104 male participants aged 39 (IQR 17) with a healthy median BMI (21.7 kg/m²; IQR 3.5). Statistical analyses revealed sex differences with the males performing faster at half-marathon ( < 0.001) and marathon ( < 0.001) events but no difference at ultra-marathons ( = 0.760). Mediation analyses revealed no significant sex differences in the performance of half-marathon and marathon when considering training behaviors ( > 0.05), racing history ( > 0.05), or racing experience ( > 0.05). Differences in recreational performance may be more closely related to social constraints and expectations of females rather than the physiological advantages of the male athlete. Health professionals who guide and support recreational runners as well as the runners themselves and their coaches may benefit from this study's results in order to improve the best time performance through a deeper understanding of the areas that mediate sex differences.
性别在解剖学和生理学上的差异是导致跑步表现差异的主要潜在因素。尽管近年来女性的参与度有所增加，但在休闲跑步活动中，男性的参与度仍然占据主导地位。NURMI 研究参与者按照横断面研究设计填写了一份调查，其中包括社会人口统计学数据、跑步和比赛动机、训练行为以及比赛历史和经验等问题。数据分析包括 141 名女性和 104 名男性参与者，年龄为 39 岁（IQR 17），健康的中位数 BMI 为 21.7kg/m²（IQR 3.5）。统计分析显示了性别差异，男性在半程马拉松（<0.001）和马拉松（<0.001）比赛中表现更快，但在超级马拉松比赛中没有差异（=0.760）。中介分析显示，考虑到训练行为（>0.05）、比赛历史（>0.05）或比赛经验（>0.05）时，半程马拉松和马拉松的表现性别差异不显著。休闲表现的差异可能与女性的社会限制和期望更密切相关，而不是男性运动员的生理优势。指导和支持休闲跑步者的健康专业人员以及跑步者本身及其教练可能会从这项研究的结果中受益，以便通过更深入地了解中介性别差异的领域来提高最佳时间表现。
