Race Course Research Articles

Sex difference in IRONMAN age group triathletes.

The sex difference in athletic performance has been thoroughly investigated in single sport disciplines such as swimming, cycling, and running. In contrast, only small samples of long-distance triathlons, such as the IRONMAN® triathlon, have been investigated so far. The aim of the study was to examine potential sex differences in the three split disciplines by age groups in 5-year intervals in a very large data set of IRONMAN® age group triathletes. Data from 687,696 (553,608 men and 134,088 women) IRONMAN® age group triathletes (in 5-year intervals from 18-24 to 75+ years) finishing successfully between 2002 and 2022 an official IRONMAN® race worldwide were analyzed. The differences in performance between women and men were determined for each split discipline and for the overall race distance. Most finishers were in the age group 40-44 years. The fastest women were in the age group 25-29 years, and the fastest men were in the age group 30-34 years. For all split disciplines and overall race time, men were always faster than women in all groups. The performance difference between the sexes was more pronounced in cycling compared to swimming and running. From the age group 35-39 years until 60-64 years, the sex differences were nearly identical in swimming and running. For both women and men, the smallest sex difference was least significant in age group 18-24 years for all split disciplines and increased in a U-shaped manner until age group 70-74 years. For age groups 75 years and older, the sex difference decreased in swimming and cycling but increased in running. Considering the different characteristics of the race courses, the smallest performance gaps between men and women were found in river swimming, flat surface cycling and rolling running courses. The sex difference in the IRONMAN® triathlon was least significant in age group 18-24 years for all split disciplines and increased in a U-shaped manner until age group 70-74 years. For 75 years and older, the sex difference decreased in swimming and cycling but increased in running.

Students Want to Build Anti-racist Praxis: How to Support Them in the Classroom with Grassroots Organizers

While university institutions have been legally codified as sites of free expression and academic autonomy, university administrations consistently repress student-led campus rebellion and activism against racism. With the resurgence of intersectional and transnational anti-racist and anti-war student activism across college campuses, how can sociology educators pedagogically invest in students’ desires to build anti-racist praxes within and beyond the university? Informed by experiences with mutually constructive grassroots spaces and undergraduate courses, I argue that educators of race, including but not limited to sociologists, must engage with grassroots and community organizers (especially organizers who are racially minoritized and queer, femme, and/or gender non-normative) and incorporate their learning tools for popular and political education. First, I use the example of “community agreements” to show how educators can incorporate political and popular education tools into their race courses to help their students build their anti-racist toolkits. Second, I discuss two examples of how educators can collaborate directly with working class and racially minoritized grassroots organizers and invite them into the classroom. I end with a call to support community-centered learning spaces beyond the university classroom, as it can strengthen anti-racist pedagogy. Despite academic and state repression, I highlight the long-held tradition and responsibility of educators to support their students’ anti-racist critiques and action. Continuing June Jordan’s anti-racist pedagogical legacy (along with others alike), the university can only survive through co-learning and co-building with students and grassroots organizers, especially racially minoritized ones.

Europe has the fastest Ironman race courses and the fastest Ironman age group triathletes

The majority of participants in Ironman triathlon races are age group athletes. We have extensive knowledge about recreational athletes’ training and competition participation. Nonetheless, Ironman age group triathletes must achieve fast race times to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. They can, therefore, benefit from knowing where the fastest Ironman racecourses in the world are. The aim of the present study was to investigate where the fastest Ironman racecourses for age group triathletes are located in the world. Data from 677,702 Ironman age group finishers’ records (544,963 from men and 132,739 from women) originating from 228 countries and participating in 444 events across 66 different Ironman race locations between 2002 and 2022 were analyzed. Data was analyzed through traditional descriptive statistics and with machine learning regression models. Four algorithms were tested (Random Forest Regressor, XG Boost Regressor, Cat Boot Regressor, and Decision Tree Regressor). The models used gender, age group, country of origin, environmental factors (average air and water temperatures), and the event location as independent variables to predict the final overall race time. Despite the majority of successful Ironman age group triathletes originating from the USA (274,553), followed by athletes from the United Kingdom (55,410) and Canada (38,264), these countries exhibited average overall race times that were significantly slower compared to the fastest countries. Most of the triathletes competed in Ironman Wisconsin (38,545), followed by Ironman Florida (38,157) and Ironman Lake Placid (34,341). The fastest overall race times were achieved in Ironman Copenhagen (11.68 ± 1.38 h), followed by Ironman Hawaii (11.72 ± 1.86 h), Ironman Barcelona (11.78 ± 1.43 h), Ironman Florianópolis (11.80 ± 1.52 h), Ironman Frankfurt (12.03 ± 1.38 h) and Ironman Kalmar (12.08 ± 1.47 h). The fastest athletes originated from Belgium (11.48 ± 1.47 h), followed by athletes from Denmark (11.59 ± 1.40 h), Switzerland (11.62 ± 1.49 h), Austria (11.68 ± 1.50), Finland (11.68 ± 1.40 h) and Germany (11.74 ± 15.1 h). Flat running and cycling courses were associated with faster overall race times. Three of the predictive models identified the ‘country’ and ‘age group’ variables as the most important predictors. Environmental characteristics showed the lowest influence regarding the other variables. The origin of the athlete was the most predictive variable whereas environmental characteristics showed the lowest influence. Flat cycling and flat running courses were associated with faster overall race times. The fastest overall race times were achieved mainly in European races such as Ironman Copenhagen, Ironman Hawaii, Ironman Barcelona, Ironman Florianópolis, Ironman Frankfurt and Ironman Kalmar. The fastest triathletes originated from European countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, and Germany.

Analysis of the 72-h ultramarathon using a predictive XG Boost model

Abstract Background Ultramarathon running enjoys unwavering popularity. This includes the 72-h run, the longest time-limited ultramarathon based on hours and not days, yet this specific race format remains understudied. In particular, we are still determining where the fastest 72-h ultra-marathoners originate or where the fastest races are held. The aim of the present study was to investigate the origins of the best performers and the locations of the fastest races. Methods A machine learning model based on the XG Boost algorithm was built to predict running speed based on the athlete´s gender, age group, country of origin, the country where the race was held, the kind of race course (road, trail, track), and the elevation (flat, hilly). Model explainability tools were then used to investigate how each independent variable would influence the predicted running speed. Results A total of 2,857 race records from 1,870 unique runners from 36 different countries participating in 55 races held in 22 countries between 1989 and 2022 were analyzed. Athletes from the USA account for more than 2/3 of the sample size. Also, more than 3/4 of the participants competed in USA-based races. Athletes from Ireland, Japan, and Ukraine were the fastest. In respect of the fastest races, they were held in Ukraine, The Netherlands, and Japan. The model rated the country of event as the most important predictor followed by the race characteristics of elevation and race course, athlete country of origin, age group, and gender. On average, men were 0.33 km/h faster than women. The fastest running speeds were achieved by runners in age group 45–49 years. Conclusions The country of the event was found to be the most important predictor in the 72-h run. Despite the dominance of runners from USA and the predominance of courses in the USA in terms of participation, athletes from Ireland, Japan, and Ukraine achieved the fastest times, while Ukraine, The Netherlands, and Japan were found to host the fastest courses.

“Out of the Comfort Zone”: Creating a Safely Brave Space for Dialogues about Race

This article is a constructively self-critical autoethnography of my evolving identity as an instructor in a race and ethnicity course. I supplement and contextualize my self-reflections with data in the form of comments from student evaluations. I begin by considering how my social location mediates class dynamics. I then present comments from earlier in my career when students routinely expressed discomfort and admonished me for what they felt was bias. Next, I discuss pedagogical strategies I adopted to address such criticism. Finally, I explore recent comments that affirm my pedagogical choices while encouraging continuing assessment of and modifications to the course. Because most respondents in my analysis are white, this article focuses primarily on their discomforts with and reactions to racial conversations in my classes and how I, as a white instructor, have responded. A discussion of the need for similar research on experiences of students of color is included.

A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam in the Eyes of Chouki El Hamel

"Black Morocco" is a study that reveals the historical course of slavery, race and gender issues in North Africa in the context of the relationship between religion and politics. It traces the transmission of the subconscious from the past to the present. The study aims to reveal the silenced history of North African slavery, and endeavors to reveal the demand for truth and justice of the living memory outside the official memory constructed by the power within the scope of remembering and forgetting. The author reflects his professional ethical concerns throughout the work by going beyond the historiography constructed in accordance with the modernity's understanding of history. Accordingly, he has opened historical facts to discussion in the context of confronting the past and tried to present the necessity of this without pragmatic political concerns and free from prejudices.

A Descriptive Analysis of the Fastest Race Courses for Triathletes

Background: For Ironman® triathlon, it has been reported that most of the fnishers and the fastest women and men in Ironman® Hawaii originated from the United States of America (USA). We have, however, no knowledge ofwhere the fastest race courses in the Ironman® 70.3 triathlon took place. We aim to analyse where the Ironman® 70.3 races were held and where the fastest split and overall race times were achieved. Methods: The athletes’ sex, age group, country of origin, and split times for swimming, running, cycling, and transitioning were obtained from the official Ironman® website. To investigate the locations of the fastest Ironman® 70.3 competitions between 2004 and 2020, a full sample of 852,721 qualifying records throughout 197 different event locations was processed. These race records were aggregated by location, and each location’s split and full finish times were calculated. Data analysis was performed first for the full sample (all race records), and then for an elite sub-sample consisting of the top 100 males and top 100 females records in each location. Results: For the full sample, the fastest overall race times were achieved in Ironman® 70.3 Zell am See (Austria). For the top 100 athletes sub-sample, the Ironman® 70.3 European Championship Elsinore and Ironman® 70.3 World Championship were the fastest courses. Conclusion: These results are useful for athletes’ strategic planning and inform event organisers about the strengths of different courses, aiding in the optimisation and promotion of future Ironman® 70.3 races worldwide. Keywords: endurance, performance, half-distance Ironman®, multi-sport, running.

The influence of midsole thickness on running turns

Running race courses typically feature numerous turns, an element of a race typically neglected. If a thick midsole were to decrease frontal plane ankle stability, it could potentially lead to a misalignment of lower limb joints, thereby affecting turn running and overall race performance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of midsole thickness on turn running performance and peak frontal plane ankle angle. Thirteen recreational athletes participated in this study, which examined the effects of two footwear conditions: one with a 35-mm thick midsole and the other with a 50-mm thick midsole. Participants performed ten running trials around each of three turns of radii 3, 6 and 9 m. No significant differences were found between footwear conditions with respect to time to completion (p = 0.028), centre of mass velocity (p = 0.179) or frontal plane ankle angle (p = 0.935) across any of the three turns. These findings would suggest footwear manufactures need not consider the impact of midsole thickness on turn running performance when designing advanced footwear technology (AFT) and consumers need not avoid a substantial stack height when purchasing running shoes.

Using machine learning to determine the nationalities of the fastest 100-mile ultra-marathoners and identify top racing events.

The present study intended to determine the nationality of the fastest 100-mile ultra-marathoners and the country/events where the fastest 100-mile races are held. A machine learning model based on the XG Boost algorithm was built to predict the running speed from the athlete's age (Age group), gender (Gender), country of origin (Athlete country) and where the race occurred (Event country). Model explainability tools were then used to investigate how each independent variable influenced the predicted running speed. A total of 172,110 race records from 65,392 unique runners from 68 different countries participating in races held in 44 different countries were used for analyses. The model rates Event country (0.53) as the most important predictor (based on data entropy reduction), followed by Athlete country (0.21), Age group (0.14), and Gender (0.13). In terms of participation, the United States leads by far, followed by Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, and Japan, in both athlete and event counts. The fastest 100-mile races are held in Romania, Israel, Switzerland, Finland, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Czechia, and Taiwan. The fastest athletes come mostly from Eastern European countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Finland, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia) and also Israel. In contrast, the slowest athletes come from Asian countries like China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. The difference among male and female predictions is relatively small at about 0.25 km/h. The fastest age group is 25-29 years, but the average speeds of groups 20-24 and 30-34 years are close. Participation, however, peaks for the age group 40-44 years. The model predicts the event location (country of event) as the most important predictor for a fast 100-mile race time. The fastest race courses were occurred in Romania, Israel, Switzerland, Finland, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Czechia, and Taiwan. Athletes and coaches can use these findings for their race preparation to find the most appropriate racecourse for a fast 100-mile race time.

VPP Driven Parametric Design of AC75 Hydrofoils

Hydrofoils are a vital part of modern racing yachts such as the AC75, which was sailed in the 36th America’s Cup and should hence be optimised thoroughly. The literature shows that hydrofoil design and optimisation usually focuses on the lift and drag characteristics in isolation of the yacht ‘system’. Although these characteristics relate to hydrofoil performance, they do not directly translate to the performance of the yacht on the race course. In this paper we perform a parametric study of the main design variables of the hydrofoil that is based on a model of the entire yacht in the Velocity Prediction Program (VPP) FS-Equilibrium. The hydrofoil forces are modelled using an advanced lifting line method and empirical formulations for a bulb. This accurately captures the foil design influence on the boat´s performance. The VPP is coupled to a parametric model of the foil based on NURBS surfaces (Non-uniform rational B-Splines) which was used to systematically generate 72 different designs. The candidates were tested in three wind speeds for up and downwind performance. The best performing design has maximum span and anhedral angle, and minimum chord with some of the weight stored in a bulb. The study shows that the assessment of hydrofoils where the performance is measured in boat speed is an extremely valuable tool.

“Getting White Boys to Get Their Heads out of Their Asses”: Instructor Accounts of Teaching a Race and Crime Course

Forty-eight instructors of Race and Crime courses were surveyed about: (1) course evaluation comments; (2) their greatest challenge teaching the course; and (3) what they enjoyed most about teaching the course. Comments on Race and Crime course evaluations involved student resistance in many cases, addressed components of the course that stood out (both good and bad), expressed seeing value in taking the course, and identified content as traumatic or depressing. Participants’ greatest challenges included displays of student resistance toward the content or instructor, building their toolbox by acquiring the skills necessary to prepare and deliver the course, experiencing internal struggles as class instructor, and dealing with external influences on the classroom. Finally, participants noted that the aspects of teaching a Race and Crime course which they enjoyed most consisted of providing students with personal opportunities for growth and change, as well as experiencing little victories and celebrations.

The modelling of urban running races

In this paper, we model mass running urban races, taking into consideration several conditioning factors. The main goal is to find ideal configurations of the start of the race, splitting it into several waves, reducing the density of athletes and the overall time lost, when comparing the normal race results with a race without density constraints. This model takes into account distinct realistic runners’ profiles, changes in slope and width on the race course and its influence on the running pace. Moreover, density levels, dynamics of the start of the race and time between the departure of waves are also considered.

Studies on level of service for a proposed cycle tracks in urban arterial roads under mixed traffic flow-A case study

In the present study, research is carried out on provision of cycle tracks in Tiruchirappalli. The study area comprises four roads within K.K Nagar, covering a distance of 5 km and surrounded by schools and residential buildings i.e., Simco Meter Road, Rajaram Salai Road, Kajamalai Road and Race Course Road. Traffic volumes during peak hours are measured in each road segment and video graphic studies, spot speed studies have been done for bicyclists and compared with IRC Standards. Preliminary geometric data were collected for all four roads and analyzed. The typical cross-sections of different roads have been shown and based on the requirement and space availability; the cycle tracks are proposed with and without shy distance including side walk wherever possible along with available widths based on IRC standards. The comfort levels of cycle users on road segment are found in terms of Bicycle Level-Of-Service (BLOS) for the considered study area. It is inferred that, LOS for the proposed geometric details with separate cycle track for bicyclists is better than the LOS of the bicyclists on the existing road.

A Machine Learning Approach to Finding the Fastest Race Course for Professional Athletes Competing in Ironman® 70.3 Races between 2004 and 2020.

Our purpose was to find the fastest race courses for elite Ironman® 70.3 athletes, using machine learning (ML) algorithms. We collected the data of all professional triathletes competing between 2004 and 2020 in Ironman 70.3 races held worldwide. A sample of 16,611 professional athletes originating from 97 different countries and competing in 163 different races was thus obtained. Four different ML regression models were built, with gender, country of origin, and event location considered as independent variables to predict the final race time. For all the models, gender was the most important variable in predicting finish times. Attending to the single decision tree model, the fastest race times in the Ironman® 70.3 World Championship of around ~4 h 03 min would be achieved by men from Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, and New Zealand. Considering the World Championship is the target event for most professional athletes, it is expected that training is planned so that they attain their best performance in this event.

VIGILANCE, STRESS COPING, AND DISPARITIES IN METABOLIC HEALTH OVER THE LIFE COURSE

Abstract Recent investigations of the mechanisms through which stress may impact cardiometabolic health point to the potential importance of cognitive tendencies (e.g., vigilance, coping strategies) in this relationship. This study examined the associations between vigilance and stress coping with metabolic risk, and whether these associations varied by race and life course socioeconomic status (SES). Data come from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study, a cohort of urban adults (n=3720, baseline age 30-64 years; balanced by race, sex, age and household income). Vigilance was measured by the MacArthur Reactive Responding subscale; stress coping was measured by the Brief Cope scale. Metabolic risk was operationalized by metabolic syndrome z-scores (MetS-Z). Linear mixed models were used to examine longitudinal associations between cognitive tendencies and MetS-Z; interaction terms were used to examine effect modification by race and life course SES. Black participants reported higher adaptive coping; participants experiencing persistent poverty or downward mobility reported higher vigilance and avoidant coping and lower adaptive coping. Overall, vigilance was not associated with metabolic risk. Avoidant and adaptive coping were inversely associated with baseline MetS-Z and further varied by sociodemographic factors. Higher adaptive coping was associated with lower MetS-Z among White adults, while higher avoidant coping was associated with lower MetS-Z among Black adults. Lower stress coping were associated with higher MetS-Z among White participants with low lifecourse SES or downward socioeconomic mobility. In sum, stress coping may modulate the stress-health relationship, but these associations must be interpreted within the intersection of contextual factors.

Downhill Sections Are Crucial for Performance in Trail Running Ultramarathons-A Pacing Strategy Analysis.

Trail running is an increasingly popular discipline, especially over long-distance races (>42.195 km). Pacing strategy, i.e., how athletes modulate running speed for managing their energies during a race, appears to have a significant impact on overall performance. The aims of this study were to investigate whether performance level, terrain (i.e., uphill or downhill) and race stage affect pacing strategy and whether any interactions between these factors are evident. Race data from four race courses, with multiple editions (total races = 16), were retrieved from their respective events websites. A linear mixed effect model was applied to the full dataset, as well as to two subgroups of the top 10 male and female finishers, to assess potential differences in pacing strategy (i.e., investigated in terms of relative speed). Better finishers (i.e., athletes ranking in the best positions) tend to run downhill sections at higher relative speeds and uphill sections at lower relative speeds than slower counterparts (p < 0.001). In the later race stages, the relative speed decrease is larger in downhill sections than in uphill ones (p < 0.001) and in downhill sections, slower finishers perform systematically worse than faster ones, but the performance difference (i.e., between slower and faster finishers) becomes significantly larger in the later race stages (p < 0.001). Among elite athletes, no difference in pacing strategy between faster and slower finishers was found (p > 0.05). Both men (p < 0.001) and women (p < 0.001), in the later race stages, slow down more in downhill sections than in uphill ones. Moreover, elite women tend to slow down more than men (p < 0.001) in the later race stages, regardless of the terrain, in contrast to previous studies focusing on road ultramarathons. In conclusion, running downhill sections at higher relative speeds, most likely due to less accentuated fatigue effects, as well as minimizing performance decrease in the later race stages in downhill sections, appears to be a hallmark of the better finishers.

The Effect Of Urban Green Spaces In Reducing Urban Flooding In Lahore, Pakistan, Using Geospatial Techniques

Urban Green Spaces (UGS) curtails all environmental issues and ensure an eco-friendly locale. Similarly, the emergence of UGS is very helpful to cope with emerging urban flooding in cities by setting up the world standard of green space ratio (20 to 25 percent of the area) and green per capita (9m2 ) in a geographical area. Therefore, the present study is conducted to evaluate the causal effect relation of UGS with the frequency of urban flooding. For this purpose, 69 selected union councils are taken as a study area in District Lahore, Pakistan. The relation between UGS and the occurrence of floods is evaluated using geo-statistical and geospatial analysis techniques during the monsoon rainfalls from 2013 to 2019. Furthermore, the data sets of sore points (inundated areas), occurrences of urban flooding (number of event occurrences), green per capita, and green ratio are used. Results revealed that selected union councils in Lahore don’t have enough urban green spaces. There is only a 51 sq km area with adequate UGS that accounts for only 18 percent of the study area. The rest of the area does not meet the world standards of green area. There are some areas including Ravi town, Gulberg town, and Samanabad town with green per capita more than 4 green per capita. On the other hand, there are only 02 union councils including Race Course and Model Town that are comprised of a 20 percent green area. The findings of the study will be helpful for proper urban planning and strategies i.e. with greener structures.

Circle Pedagogy in Criminal Justice Education at a PWI: A Student/Faculty Collaborative Autoethnography

The restorative justice movement is grounded in the longstanding traditions and philosophies of indigenous and First Nation communities. As a restorative practice, circles have the potential to reactively repair harms and proactively build and strengthen community bonds. More recently, circles have been used to facilitate dialogues in a variety of community settings, including workplaces, schools, and correctional institutions. The authors first met as teacher and student at a Predominantly White Institution in a Race and Crime course where the instructor used circles in a classroom context. The circle as a pedagogy encourages critical thinking and community engagement as an alternative to a traditional banking pedagogy. By emphasizing values such as voluntariness, vulnerability, and egalitarianism, circles mirror a Freirean dialogical pedagogy. The authors went on to form a mentor-mentee relationship and attended online community circles together. This exploratory paper reflects on the authors’ experiences in classroom and community circles in order to share what they have learned about the purpose and application of circles. In the classroom, circles provide students with a safe space to have their voices heard and to listen to the perspectives of others, thus allowing them to engage in productive dialogues about controversial subjects.

Faculty Perspectives on Teaching a Race and Crime Course: A Replication and Expansion

This study administered an updated version of Gabbidon and Preston's (2003) survey, which provided an overview of Race and Crime courses, to 48 criminal justice faculty who had experience teaching a Race and Crime course. Descriptive statistics revealed that: (1) less than half of faculty members’ universities required Race and Crime at the undergraduate level; and (2) more than half of faculty members’ universities did not offer Race and Crime at the graduate level. Most faculty (88%) rated their overall experience teaching Race and Crime positively. Sixty percent of faculty considered teaching Race and Crime more emotionally exhausting than other courses they taught, but 56% of faculty also indicated that teaching Race and Crime was more emotionally rewarding. Bivariate analyses generally failed to find significant differences between nonwhite and white faculty on these measures.

Maximum-distance race strategies for a fully electric endurance race car

This paper presents a bi-level optimization framework to compute the maximum-distance stint and charging strategies for a fully electric endurance race car. Thereby, the lower level computes the minimum-stint-time Powertrain Operation (PO) for a given battery energy budget and stint length, whilst the upper level leverages that information to jointly optimize the stint length, charge time and number of pit stops, in order to maximize the driven distance in the course of a fixed-time endurance race. Specifically, we first extend a convex lap time optimization framework to capture multiple laps and force-based electric motor models, and use it to create a map linking the charge time and stint length to the achievable stint time. Second, we leverage the map to frame the maximum-race-distance problem as a mixed-integer second order conic program that can be efficiently solved to the global optimum with off-the-shelf optimization algorithms. Finally, we showcase our framework on a 6 h race around the Zandvoort circuit. Our results show that a flat-out strategy can be extremely detrimental, and that, compared to when the stints are optimized for a fixed number of pit stops, jointly optimizing the stints and number of pit stops can increase the driven distance of several laps.