Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Knechtle B designed the study, collected the data, and helped drafting the manuscript.
Rosemann T critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. Lepers R provided assistance with the statistical analyses and helped drafting the manuscript. The performance and age of peak ultra-endurance performance have been investigated in single races and single race series but not using worldwide participation data.
The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in running performance and the age of peak running performance of the best mile ultra-marathoners worldwide. The race times and ages of the annual ten fastest women and men were analyzed among a total of 35, finishes 6, for women and 29, for men competing between and in mile ultra-marathons.
The annual top ten performances improved by The mean ages of the annual top ten fastest runners were Knowledge of the age of peak athletic performance is of major importance for elite athletes 1. When the age of peak performance is known, a high-level athletic career, such as participation in a World Championship or in the Olympic Games, can be better planned. Several studies investigated the age of peak performance for different endurance sport disciplines, such as swimming 2 , 3 , running 2 , 4 β 7 , track and field 2 , and triathlon 8 β The age of peak endurance performance has been suggested to depend upon gender 2 , 6 and the duration of the performance 2 , 4 , 8.
An analysis of Olympic track and field and swimming data from to indicated that the age of peak performance increased with the distance of a foot race for both men and women and that women generally achieved peak performances at a younger age than men 2.
