Understanding Marathon Pacing Factors: Age, Experience, and Gender Impact

1. Pace versus prediction: Implications of age, experience and sex on marathon race performanceDan Gordon1, Itay Basevitch1, Adrian Scruton1, Joseph Biggins1, Ian Brown1, James Baker1, Viviane Merzbach11Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Group, Anglia Ruskin University, UKE-mail: dan.Gordon@Anglia.ac.ukTwitter: @SESRG_ARU

2. Introduction The ability to regulate pace is dependent upon the ability to make prospective judgments regarding the metabolic demands of the exercise against the actual metabolic capacity. Modulations in pace, are manifest in order to prevent a complete depletion of the finite anaerobic capacity. Cognitive judgment is set within the context of a continuum from: ability to anticipate metabolic demands and select an appropriate strategy through the accumulation of prior experience for completion of such a task that has a known end point.

3. Introduction Pacing ability is a skill and would benefit from repetition as an individual becomes better able to regulate effort to evenly pace or achieve desired splits. Experience (number of prior marathons), age and race speed shown to be of little effect in marathon pacing while sex was a robust indicator. The ability to regulate pace is a function of both the experience of the individual (volume of exposure to the associated biological and psychological sensations) and cognitive developmental status Green, MJ et al. 2010 Eur J Appl Physiol. 108: 567-572 Scruton, A. 2015. Open Access J Sport Med. 6: 249-257 Deaner, RO et al. 2015. Med Sci Sport Exerc. 3: 607-616

4. Method Participants: 777 runners competing in London marathon 2015 Males: n= 384, Females: n= 393

5. Whole group responses

6. Male and female responses

7. Ressponses according to age

8. Responses according to prior experience *

9. Responses according to prior experience

12. Conclusions Data shows that accrued experience has almost no association (~8%) with pacing success and accuracy confirming previous works of Deaner and co-workers 2015, coupled with no effect for age or sex. Race speed is associated with pacing accuracy and suggests either a function of training volume in agreement with Green and colleagues 2010 or associative effect with physiological function. Irrespective of age, sex, experience of ability all runners exert to much energy in the early phase of the race showing a marked slowing effect against even pace prediction implying either (a) more caution at the start or (b) focusing on official pacers as guide runners in order to maximise their race experience.

13. Pace versus prediction: Implications of age, experience and sex on marathon race performanceDan Gordon1, Itay Basevitch1, Adrian Scruton1, Joseph Biggins1, James Baker1, Viviane Merzbach11Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Group, Anglia Ruskin University, UKE-mail: dan.Gordon@Anglia.ac.ukTwitter: @SESRG_ARU