Bearden Shawn E, van Woerden Irene
Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, United States of America.
Department of Community and Public Health, College of Health, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 May 12;20(5):e0322883. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322883. eCollection 2025.
Ultramarathons are growing in popularity, owing especially to the participation of women and masters athletes. Pacing strategy, which can vary by sex and age, is a critical variable in determining finishing place in races up to the marathon distance. Whether this is true in 161-km ultramarathons is unclear. We tested the hypotheses that pacing is a determining factor in finishing place and that pacing differs by sex and age in 161-km ultramarathons. Publicly available data from 161-km races (n = 6) were analyzed for years 2012-2022 (n = 56). Linear regression was used to analyze the proportion of time in each segment (between timing checkpoints) by place, sex, and age. In general, runners used the same percentage of their total race time in each segment independent of finishing place, sex, or age. The exception was that later finishers often ran proportionally faster at the start compared to earlier finishers. Finishing times increased with age but pacing was unaffected by age or sex. We conclude that slower finishers paced the same as faster finishers following a relatively quick start in these ultramarathons, and pacing was not consistently affected by sex or age. These findings should inform training decisions and racing strategy in 161-km ultramarathons.
超级马拉松越来越受欢迎，这尤其归功于女性和大龄运动员的参与。配速策略会因性别和年龄而异，在马拉松及以下距离的比赛中，它是决定完赛名次的关键变量。在161公里的超级马拉松中是否也是如此尚不清楚。我们检验了以下假设：在161公里超级马拉松中，配速是决定完赛名次的一个因素，且配速因性别和年龄而异。对2012年至2022年期间161公里比赛（n = 6）的公开数据（n = 56）进行了分析。采用线性回归分析按名次、性别和年龄划分的每个赛段（计时检查点之间）的用时比例。总体而言，无论完赛名次、性别或年龄如何，跑步者在每个赛段中使用的总比赛时间百分比相同。例外情况是，与较早完赛者相比，较晚完赛者在起跑时通常按比例跑得更快。完赛时间随年龄增长而增加，但配速不受年龄或性别的影响。我们得出结论，在这些超级马拉松比赛中，起跑相对较快后，较慢完赛者的配速与较快完赛者相同，且配速并未持续受到性别或年龄的影响。这些发现应为161公里超级马拉松的训练决策和比赛策略提供参考。
