Are Women Better Than Men at Endurance Running?
By Sarah Dawkins, BBC Sport Senior Journalist
"The race is too hard for women. They are simply not tough enough to do it." — Lazarus Lake, Barkley Marathons race director.
These words, spoken in 2015, challenged a common assumption. It took nine years for someone to prove him wrong: Jasmin Paris from Midlothian became the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, an ultra-endurance event considered one of the world’s hardest, with just one minute and 39 seconds to spare of the 60-hour cut-off.
But Paris is far from alone in recent years. Female runners are increasingly dominating ultramarathons, breaking records, and even winning races outright against their male counterparts. This trend raises questions: Are women better suited for these endurance challenges? What physiological or psychological advantages do they possess?
Scientific Perspective
In shorter distances up to the marathon, men generally outperform women by around 10-12%. Men are typically stronger and have a larger aerobic capacity. However, as race distances increase beyond the marathon, this gap narrows significantly.
A study analyzing over two decades of amateur ultra-race data found that the "gender pace gap" diminishes to just 0.25% in 100-mile races and vanishes entirely for events exceeding 195 miles, suggesting women have the potential to be faster in these longer distances.
Prof. Andy Jones, an expert in endurance performance at the University of Exeter, attributes this to three physiological factors:
- Fat metabolism: Women generally have higher fat stores and burn fat more efficiently, providing a steady energy source during extended exercise.
- Muscle composition: They possess a higher proportion of "slow twitch" muscle fibers, which are better suited for endurance activities due to their oxygen efficiency.
- Fatigue resistance: Women retain more strength and power over prolonged periods of endurance exercise.
Future Prospects
Despite these findings, Prof. Jones acknowledges that the scientific understanding in this area is still evolving. As research progresses, we may gain deeper insights into the reasons behind women’s potential advantages in ultra-endurance events.
The increasing number of female participants and record-breaking performances in these races serves as a testament to women’s capabilities and challenges traditional perceptions. It remains to be seen if these gains translate into more frequent record breaks in the future, but one thing is clear: women are indeed pushing the boundaries of endurance running.
