Why Women Might Be Better at Running Marathons

Daily Burn—August 12, 2014

It’s a battle of the sexes, marathon style. In 2013, 541,000 men and women finished marathons in the United States. Fifty-seven percent were men, and 43 percent were women — and though women may have been outnumbered, new research reveals they likely fared better during their 26.2 miles.

So why are men messing up their marathons?

In a study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers revealed that men were nearly three times as likely to noticeably slow their pace as they logged miles, compared to women. Men were hitting the dreaded “wall,” the point at which fatigue makes taking even one more step feel impossible, at a greater percentage than their female counterparts — and they were hitting it harder.

Mike Silverman, a physical therapist who specializes in running form analysis, and running injuries at New York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery, said the study’s results rang true.

“I’ve noticed when I compare my female to male runners, women tend to follow the training programs to the T, and they do a lot of extra work in terms of prep for marathon running,” Silverman says. “Whereas the men tend to slack or go off on their own when training. I was laughing to myself reading this study, because this is totally my patient population.”

Read the full article on dailyburn.com.