The Role of Environmental Conditions on Marathon Running Performance in Men Competing in Boston Marathon from 1897 to 2018

Pantelis T. Nikolaidis, Stefania Di Gangi, Hamdi Chtourou, Christoph Alexander Rüst, Thomas Rosemann and Beat Knechtle
Additional contact information
Pantelis T. Nikolaidis: Exercise Physiology Laboratory, 18450 Nikaia, Greece
Stefania Di Gangi: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Hamdi Chtourou: Activité Physique: Sport et Santé, UR18JS01, Observatoire National du Sport, Tunis 2020, Tunisia
Christoph Alexander Rüst: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Thomas Rosemann: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Beat Knechtle: Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of weather conditions on male performance during the Boston Marathon from 1897 to 2018. A total of 383,982 observations from 244,642 different finishers were analysed using Generalized Additive Mixed Models. All runners, annual top 100 finishers and annual top ten finishers were considered. Weather conditions, on race day, were: average air temperature (°C), precipitations (mm), wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) (°C), wind speed (km/h), wind direction (N, S, W, E) and pressure (hPa). These effects were examined in multi-variable models with spline smooth terms in function of calendar year. Temperature, when increasing by 1 °C, was related to worsened performance for all groups (i.e., by 00:01:53 h:min:sec for all finishers, p < 0.001). Wind coming from the West, compared to wind coming from other directions, was the most favourable for performance of all groups of finishers. Increasing precipitations worsened performances of top 100 (estimate 00:00:04 h:min:sec, p < 0.001) and top 10 finishers (estimate 00:00:05 h:min:sec, p < 0.001). Wind speed, when increasing by 1 km/h, was related to worsened performance for all finishers (estimate 00:00:19 h:min:sec, p < 0.001), but not for top 100 group, where performances were 00:00:09 h:min:sec faster, p < 0.001. Pressure and WBGT were examined in uni-variable models: overall, performances worsened as pressure and WBGT increased. Our findings contributed to the knowledge about the effect of weather conditions on performance level in male marathon runners.

Keywords: endurance; performance; sex; environmental conditions; temperature; wind; wet-dry bulb (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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