Abstract
The effect of different environmental conditions such as temperature, wind, barometric pressure, and precipitation has been well investigated in elite marathoners, but not by age categories (i.e., age group marathoners). The aim of the study was to investigate the potential influence of environmental conditions such as temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric pressure on marathon performance in age group marathoners competing in the ‘Berlin Marathon’ from 1974 to 2019. A total of 869,474 valid finisher records were available for analysis, of which 711,136 correspond to males and 158,338 to females. The influence of temperature, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation on marathon race times was investigated in age group marathoners grouped in 5-year-intervals. Within the 46 years of Berlin marathons under investigation, there was some level of precipitation for 18 years, and 28 years without any rain. Sunshine was predominant in 25 of the events, whilst in the other 21 years, cloud cover was predominant. Marathon race times were significantly and positively correlated with age (i.e., older runners were slower than younger runners) where the correlation was higher for males than for females. Marathon race times were significantly and positively correlated with both the hours of sunshine and the daily maximum temperature. The fastest marathon runners (meaning the minimum times) achieved the fastest race times on race days with higher maximum temperatures (i.e., 15–30°C). Daily maximum temperatures showed an influence on age group marathoners from age group 35–40 years and older. Higher precipitation levels impaired performance across most age groups. In summary, higher daily maximum temperatures (i.e., >15°C) and higher precipitation levels impaired performance of master marathoners (i.e., 35–40 years and older) competing in the ‘Berlin Marathon’ in the last 45 years. Master marathoners should start in marathon races with temperatures < 15°C and no precipitation in order to achieve a fast marathon race time.
Highlights
Marathon running is of high popularity with a documented increase in participants in recent decades mainly in large city marathons such as the ‘New York City Marathon’ (Jokl et al, 2004; Vitti et al, 2020)
This study investigated the influence of environmental conditions such as temperature, sunshine duration, precipitation, barometric pressure on marathon race times in age group marathoners with the assumption that higher ambient temperatures would impair marathon performance in athletes in master marathoners
The main findings were (i) marathon race times were significantly and positively related with age where the correlation was higher for males than for females, (ii) marathon race times were significantly and positively correlated with both sunshine duration and daily maximum temperature with no differences between the sexes, (iii) the fastest marathon runners achieved the fastest race times on race days with higher maximum temperatures with no differences between the sexes, (iv) increased daily maximum temperatures decreased race performance in age group marathoners from age group 35–40 years and older with no differences between the sexes, and (v) higher precipitation levels impaired top performance across most age groups with no differences between the sexes
Summary
Marathon running is of high popularity with a documented increase in participants in recent decades mainly in large city marathons such as the ‘New York City Marathon’ (Jokl et al, 2004; Vitti et al, 2020). In addition to the increase in participation, master marathoners of higher ages (i.e., 75 years and older) competed in these races and they improved their performances in recent decades (Ahmadyar et al, 2015, 2016) Regarding marathon performance, it is well-known that environmental conditions such as ambient temperature (Cheuvront and Haymes, 2001; Nikolaidis et al, 2019), wind (El Helou et al, 2012), cloud cover (Trapasso and Cooper, 1989; Ely et al, 2007a), barometric pressure (Knechtle et al, 2019; Nikolaidis et al, 2019), and precipitation (Trapasso and Cooper, 1989; Knechtle et al, 2019; Nikolaidis et al, 2019) have a considerable effect on marathon running performance. The optimum temperature for a fast marathon race time is generally at ∼10– 12◦C (Ely et al, 2007a; Maughan, 2010) or even lower at ∼8◦C (Trapasso and Cooper, 1989)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
