Participation and performance trends of East-African runners in Swiss half-marathons and marathons held between 2000 and 2010

Marco Cribari,Vincent Onywera,Romuald Lepers,Thomas Rosemann,Christoph A Rüst,Beat Knechtle

doi:10.1186/2052-1847-5-24

Abstract

BackgroundThis study examined the changes in participation, performance and age of East African runners competing in half-marathons and marathons held in Switzerland between 2000 and 2010.MethodsRace times, sex, age and origin of East African versus Non-African finishers of half-marathon and marathon finishers were analyzed.ResultsAcross time, the number of Kenyan and Ethiopian finishers remained stable (P > 0.05) while the number of Non-African finishers increased for both women and men in both half-marathons and marathons (P < 0.05). In half-marathons, the top ten African women (71 ± 1.4 min) and top three (62.3 ± 0.6 min) and top ten (62.8 ± 0.4 min) African men were faster than their Non-African counterparts (P < 0.05). In marathons, however, there was no difference in race times between the top three African men (130.0 ± 0.0 min) and women (151.7 ± 2.5 min) compared to Non-African men (129.0 ± 1.0 min) and women (150.7 ± 1.2 min) (P > 0.05). In half-marathons and marathons was no difference in age between the best Non-African and the best African runners (P > 0.05).ConclusionsDuring the last decade in Switzerland, the participation of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners in half- and full- marathons remained stable. In marathons there was no difference in age and performance between the top African and the top Non-African runners. Regarding half-marathons, the top African runners were faster but not younger than the top Non-African runners. Future insight should be gained by comparing the present results with participation, performance and age trends for East African runners competing in marathons held in larger countries.

Highlights

This study examined the changes in participation, performance and age of East African runners competing in half-marathons and marathons held in Switzerland between 2000 and 2010
It has been shown for the ‘New York City Marathon’ that participation increased in the last decades [1,2] especially for women [6] and master athletes
Leyk et al [2,4] suggested that health promoting behaviour and the ability of finishing a marathon with only a short running history might be a potential explanation for this phenomenon

Summary

Introduction

This study examined the changes in participation, performance and age of East African runners competing in half-marathons and marathons held in Switzerland between 2000 and 2010. It has been demonstrated that age [1,2,3,4,5,6], sex [2,4,5,6,7], training [2,4,8], anthropometry [2,4,8] and nationality [9] were crucial determining factors for long-distance running performance It has been shown for the ‘New York City Marathon’ that participation increased in the last decades [1,2] especially for women [6] and master athletes [1]. Recent studies showed that best marathon times in general population will be achieved before the age of forty years [1,3,6]

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