Cover image of the article: Predictor Variables for Marathon Race Time in Recreational Female Runners

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Predictor Variables for Marathon Race Time in Recreational Female Runners

Authors

Wiebke Schmid1, Beat KnechtleBeat Knechtle ORCID2,*, Patrizia Knechtle1, Ursula Barandun1, Christoph Alexander Rst2, Thomas Rosemann2, Romuald Lepers3
1Gesundheitszentrum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2Institute of General Practice and Health Services Research, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
3INSERM U887, University of Undy, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Dijon, France
*Corresponding Author: Facharzt FMH fr Allgemeinmedizin Gesundheitszentrum St. Gallen, Vadianstrasse 26, 9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland., beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch. Email: beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch

Asian Journal of Sports Medicine:Vol. 3, issue 2; 90-98
Published online:May 31, 2012
Article type:Research Article
Received:Oct 31, 2011
Accepted:Dec 28, 2011
How to Cite:Schmid W, Knechtle B, Knechtle P, Barandun U, Rst CA, et al. Predictor Variables for Marathon Race Time in Recreational Female Runners. Asian J Sports Med. 2012;3(2):34704. doi: https://doi.org/10.5812/asjsm.34704

Abstract

Purpose:

We intended to determine predictor variables of anthropometry and training for marathon race time in recreational female runners in order to predict marathon race time for future novice female runners.

Methods:

Anthropometric characteristics such as body mass, body height, body mass index, circumferences of limbs, thicknesses of skin-folds and body fat as well as training variables such as volume and speed in running training were related to marathon race time using bi- and multi-variate analysis in 29 female runners.

Results:

The marathoners completed the marathon distance within 251 (26) min, running at a speed of 10.2 (1.1) km/h. Body mass (r=0.37), body mass index (r=0.46), the circumferences of thigh (r=0.51) and calf (r=0.41), the skin-fold thicknesses of front thigh (r=0.38) and of medial calf (r=0.40), the sum of eight skin-folds (r=0.44) and body fat percentage (r=0.41) were related to marathon race time. For the variables of training, maximal distance ran per week (r=? 0.38), number of running training sessions per week (r=? 0.46) and the speed of the training sessions (r= ? 0.60) were related to marathon race time. In the multi-variate analysis, the circumference of calf (P=0.02) and the speed of the training sessions (P=0.0014) were related to marathon race time. Marathon race time might be partially (r 2=0.50) predicted by the following equation: Race time (min)=184.4 + 5.0 x (circumference calf, cm) 11.9 x (speed in running during training, km/h) for recreational female marathoners.

Conclusions:

Variables of both anthropometry and training were related to marathon race time in recreational female marathoners and cannot be reduced to one single predictor variable. For practical applications, a low circumference of calf and a high running speed in training are associated with a fast marathon race time in recreational female runners.

Highlights

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Copyright

© 2012, Author(s). This open-access article is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which allows for unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.

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