Relative improvements in endurance performance with age: evidence from 25 years of Hawaii Ironman racing

Despite of the growth of ultra-endurance sports events (of duration >6 h) over the previous few decades, the age-related declines in ultra-endurance performance have drawn little attention. The aim of the study was to analyse the changes in participation and performance trends of older (>40 years of age) triathletes between 1986 and 2010 at the Hawaii Ironman triathlon consisting of 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42 km running. Swimming, cycling, running and total times of the best male and female triathletes between 18 and 69 years of age who competed in the Hawaii Ironman triathlon were analysed. The relative participation of master triathletes increased during the 1986-2010 period, while the participation of triathletes younger than 40 years of age decreased. Linear regression showed that males older than 44 years and females older than 40 years significantly improved their performances in the three disciplines and in the total time taken to complete the race. Gender differences in total time performance significantly decreased in the same time period for all age groups between the 40-44 and 55-59 years ones. The reasons for these relative improvements of Ironman athlete performances in older age groups remain, however, unknown. Further studies investigating training regimes, competition experience or sociodemographic factors are needed to gain better insights into the phenomenon of increasing participation and improvement of ultra-endurance performance with advancing age

Trends in triathlon performance: Effects of sex and age

The influences of sex and age upon endurance performance have previously been documented for both running and swimming. A number of recent studies have investigated how sex and age influence triathlon performance, a sport that combines three disciplines (swimming, cycling and running), with competitions commonly lasting between 2 (short distance: 1.5-km swim, 40-km cycle and 10-km run) and 8 h (Ironman distance: 3.8-km swim, 180-km cycle and 42-km run) for elite triathletes. Age and sex influences upon performance have also been investigated for ultra-triathlons, with distances corresponding to several Ironman distances and lasting several days, and for off-road triathlons combining swimming, mountain biking and trail running. Triathlon represents an intriguing alternative model for analysing the effects of age and sex upon endurance and ultra-endurance (>6 h) performance because sex differences and age-related declines in performance can be analysed in the same individuals across the three separate disciplines. The relative participation of both females and masters athletes (age >40 years) in triathlon has increased consistently over the past 25 years. Sex differences in triathlon performance are also known to differ between the modes of locomotion adopted (swimming, cycling or running) for both elite and non-elite triathletes. Generally, time differences between sexes in swimming have been shown to be smaller on average than during cycling and running. Both physiological and morphological factors contribute to explaining these findings. Performance density (i.e. the time difference between the winner and tenth-placed competitor) has progressively improved (time differences have decreased) for international races over the past two decades for both males and females, with performance density now very similar for both sexes. For age-group triathletes, sex differences in total triathlon performance time increases with age. However, the possible difference in age-related changes in the physiological determinants of endurance and ultra-endurance performances between males and females needs further investigation. Non-physiological factors such as low rates of participation of older female triathletes may also contribute to the greater age-related decline in triathlon performance shown by females. Total triathlon performance has been shown to decrease in a curvilinear manner with advancing age. However, when triathlon performance is broken down into its three disciplines, there is a smaller age-related decline in cycling performance than in running and swimming performances. Age-associated changes in triathlon performance are also related to the total duration of triathlon races. The magnitude of the declines in cycling and running performances with advancing age for short triathlons are less pronounced than for longer Ironman-distance races. Triathlon distance is also important when considering how age affects the rate of the decline in performance. Off-road triathlon performances display greater decrements with age than road-based triathlons, suggesting that the type of discipline (road vs. mountain bike cycling and road vs. trail running) is an important factor in age-associated changes in triathlon performance. Finally, masters triathletes have shown relative improvements in their performances across the three triathlon disciplines and total triathlon event times during Ironman races over the past three decades. This raises an important issue as to whether older male and female triathletes have yet reached their performance limits during Ironman triathlons