Endurance running became a mass phenomenon throughout the 1980s around the world. Therefore, we wanted to investigate the participation and performance trends of runners in a half marathon. We analyzed a database cont...Endurance running became a mass phenomenon throughout the 1980s around the world. Therefore, we wanted to investigate the participation and performance trends of runners in a half marathon. We analyzed a database containing the number of people who signed up and finished as well as age group, gender, placement, and runtime for all runners from a half marathon between 2003 and 2009. More than 35,000 runners participated in the half marathon, with an 80% increase in total participation during the 7 years analyzed. We verified that the annual participation increased, with a greater increase seen in female and middle-aged people of both genders, and runtimes of last finishers increased gradually in most of the age groups and both genders. However, while the number of people who signed up increased, there was a decrease in the number of participants who finished resulting in a negative correlation. This finding in association with the decrease in the percentage of finishers shows that each year the fitness deteriorated in both genders and across all ages.展开更多
文摘Endurance running became a mass phenomenon throughout the 1980s around the world. Therefore, we wanted to investigate the participation and performance trends of runners in a half marathon. We analyzed a database containing the number of people who signed up and finished as well as age group, gender, placement, and runtime for all runners from a half marathon between 2003 and 2009. More than 35,000 runners participated in the half marathon, with an 80% increase in total participation during the 7 years analyzed. We verified that the annual participation increased, with a greater increase seen in female and middle-aged people of both genders, and runtimes of last finishers increased gradually in most of the age groups and both genders. However, while the number of people who signed up increased, there was a decrease in the number of participants who finished resulting in a negative correlation. This finding in association with the decrease in the percentage of finishers shows that each year the fitness deteriorated in both genders and across all ages.
