Pacing in Time-Limited Ultramarathons from 6 to 24 Hours—The Aspects of Age, Sex and Performance Level
, José Ramón Alvero-Cruz 3, Thomas Rosemann 1 and Beat Knechtle 1,4,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This submitted manuscript aims to examine the effects of age, sex and fitness level on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h and 24 h time-limited ultra-marathons. The authors hypothesize that runner performance level would be a key driver of pacing during time-limited ultra-marathons. The authors also seeked to identify differences in pacing strategies on the basis of age and sex to elucidate how endurance for a time-limited ultra-marathon influences pacing in ultra-marathon athletes.
Although the aims of the submitted manuscript are clear, this reviewer has several concerns that will need to be addressed before considering this paper further for publication consideration. To help guide the authors with their revisions, a point-by-point list of concerns and questions are provided below section-by-section for the manuscript.
Abstract:
Line 14: What was the age/sex distribution of the patients?
Line 14: Saying participants were “671 finishers in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time-limited ultramarathons” makes it seems like there was an even distribution to all 3 times when there really was a big difference in the number of participants in each group.
Lines 15-18: A lot of these sentences are objectively made claims without any data as evidence. For example, in Line 14, data from the study should be provided to substantiate the claim.
Lines 19-20: 1) Not all runners have personal coaches. 2) This would also benefit the runners themselves (helps to be more efficient in training, insight on how to maintain physical integrity and health during races, etc.)
Introduction:
Line 24-26: This sentence reads awkwardly. Needs revision.
Line 37: “6 days” is not expressed in hours, but “10 days” is (240 h)
Line 38: Change “noticeable” to “noticeably”
Line 43: Remove “Differences between female and male long- 43 distance runners seem to exist” this is a repeated notion and unnecessary statement.
Line 43-63: These paragraphs can be combined into one cohesive paragraph.
Line 45: Remove repeating “in the”
Line 60-63: These two sentences are contradictory. Need further explanation to clarify these statements.
Line 64-65: The fitness level of ultra-marathon runners was never addressed in the paper. The authors might consider changing the wording, removing the phrase, or elaborating on the phrase.
Materials and Methods:
Lines 79-85: Section 2.2: What are the confounding factors for each of these races? Did these ultramarathons take place on a racetrack, city streets, a hiking trail? What was the terrain like? The altitude? Were there significant changes in altitude during the race? How can you standardize them so that the data is comparable? (Attempted with CV)
Line 80: Should be “Data was extracted” instead of “Data were extracted”
Lines 81-83: What were the reasons behind choosing these specific ultramarathons? Hundreds of ultramarathons take place in the US each year. These choices might show bias (e.g. P. T. Nikolaidis is faculty member at university in Egaleo, Greece (municipality of Athens, where one of the ultramarathons took place))
Lines 87-90: Spell out the units (e.g. say “the distances (in kilometers)”), leave the abbreviations for tables and figures.
Lines 87-88: “age” and “were” do not go together as one is singular and the other is plural. Change to “ages” and keep “were,” or keep “age” and change to “was”
Results:
Line 107: These values (1.50, 2.01, 2.99) do not line up with the ones in Table 1 (1.35, 2.01, 2.97)
Line 146: Figure 4: The race speed scatter plot is printed too small as compared to the other tables in this section, so it is difficult to visualize the various points.
Line 146-153: Figures 4-6: Unclear which equation and coefficient of determination are associated with which group (Thoroughly mixed values and text boxes placed inside the graph, sometimes overlapping values)
Line 153: Figure 6: Forgot an “X” in one of the “Y=” equations
Discussion:
Line 160-164: This whole section is a complete copy of the results section of the abstract. The authors are therefore encouraged to please rework this section of the manuscript by providing connections to the previous literature and those literature mentioned within the introduction section.
Lines 161-162: It is not surprising that the 6-h runners were the fastest. Participants aren’t running for as long and thus are not expected to change their pacing as much as 24 h ultramarathon runners, leading to a higher average speed.
Lines 165-218: Sections 4.1 - 4.3: Each section contains more than one finding. Each finding should have an individual dedicated paragraph. OR Change the title of the sections to include the other findings.
Lines 173-174: Source to prove men are more competitive? This discussion section, in general, provides too much conjecture for a scientific paper.
Lines 177-178: Is that really the case? The sample size for the 6-hr races is 40 compared to 232 and 671 for 12-h and 24-h races, respectively. This violates one of the basic assumptions of the statistical analyses (similar sample sizes per group).
Line 188: Use a more professional term to describe agreement rather than simply stating there was “good agreement”
Lines 199-205, 231-234: It’s good that the authors are considering future directions. Maybe put these in the conclusion section instead?
Line 198: The statement about master athletes is conjecture and not backed by science.
Line 201: The quote “It would be interesting to examine” sounds too colloquial.
Line 203-204: This ending statement is true, but is there anything unique about the data presented here that hasn’t been assumed or proven before?
Line 208: Saying finishers in the 6 h were faster than those in the 12 h and 24 h is kind of data dredging as it is obvious that people who are intended to run for a shorter time are going to be faster than people intended to run for a longer time.
Line 208-211: There is a missing period before the word “These”. The two sentences need rephrasing.
Lines 212-213: Female athletes do in fact have greater lower body strength as well as a smaller heart and blood volume than male athletes. Saying that the difference is partially determined by VO2max is just plain logic.
Line 215: Remove the word “obvious”
Lines 240: The quote “pay particular attention to optimize their pacing strategies and speed” needs to be better clarified. Pay attention to WHAT specifically? That overexertion in the first half, 2/3rds, etc. of a race leads to variable pacing in the remainder of the race and can therefore greatly hinder performance times?
Conclusion:
This reviewer recommends that the authors consider changing the conclusion to include a greater degree of specificity to the study findings.
The authors should also address how this study will influence future research. Rather than just restating what was said before about how the data “might help” coaches.
Elaborate more on how this data “might help” coaches design training programs for the future.
Author Response
This submitted manuscript aims to examine the effects of age, sex and fitness level on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h and 24 h time-limited ultra-marathons. The authors hypothesize that runner performance level would be a key driver of pacing during time-limited ultra-marathons. The authors also seeked to identify differences in pacing strategies on the basis of age and sex to elucidate how endurance for a time-limited ultra-marathon influences pacing in ultra-marathon athletes.
Although the aims of the submitted manuscript are clear, this reviewer has several concerns that will need to be addressed before considering this paper further for publication consideration. To help guide the authors with their revisions, a point-by-point list of concerns and questions are provided below section-by-section for the manuscript.
Abstract:
Line 14: What was the age/sex distribution of the patients?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added this information in the methods.
Line 14: Saying participants were “671 finishers in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time-limited ultramarathons” makes it seems like there was an even distribution to all 3 times when there really was a big difference in the number of participants in each group.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and provided detailed numbers of participants.
Lines 15-18: A lot of these sentences are objectively made claims without any data as evidence. For example, in Line 14, data from the study should be provided to substantiate the claim.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and expanded to ‘Participants were 671 finishers in 6 h (n=40, 17 women and 23 men), 12 h (n=232, 77 women and 155 men) and 24 h (n=671, 169 women and 502 men) ultramarathons. We also added in the method section ‘The coefficient of variation (CV), calculated as SD/mean, was used to described pacing. Low scores of CV denoted a more even pacing and vice versa. A two-way analysis of variance examined the main effects and interactions of sex and race duration on age, race speed and pacing.’
Lines 19-20: 1) Not all runners have personal coaches. 2) This would also benefit the runners themselves (helps to be more efficient in training, insight on how to maintain physical integrity and health during races, etc.)
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘These data might help runners and coaches to choose the proper duration of a race and training programs for their athletes’.
Introduction:
Line 24-26: This sentence reads awkwardly. Needs revision.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘Athletes strive in competitions for their optimum performance. It is mandatory to choose an optimal pacing strategy in order to resist fatigue’.
Line 37: “6 days” is not expressed in hours, but “10 days” is (240 h)
Answer:We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘Time-limited ultramarathon races can last from specified time-periods of 6 h, 12 h or 24 h up to 6 days (144 h) and 10 days (240 h).’.
Line 38: Change “noticeable” to “noticeably”
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘The popularity of these time-limited ultra-endurance running events has noticeably increased over the past years’
Line 43: Remove “Differences between female and male long- 43 distance runners seem to exist” this is a repeated notion and unnecessary statement.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘An important aspect in pacing is the sex difference’.
Line 43-63: These paragraphs can be combined into one cohesive paragraph.
Answer:We agree with the expert reviewer and changed that section to ‘An important aspect in pacing is the sex difference [11]. In marathon running, Santos-Lozano et al. found a significant variation between women and men in the pace in all splits [12]. In 100-km ultra-marathoners, women showed lower relative starting running speeds and higher finishing running speeds than men [13]. Regarding performance level, faster finishers showed fewer variations in running speed and also slow down lesser than weaker runners [14]. Breen et al. noticed that high-performing athletes used more-controlled pacing strategies during a competitive marathon than weaker runners, independent of age and sex [15]. Considering age, actual studies investigating pacing in age group marathoners showed differences in pacing between younger and older runners. Older runners were found to show slower running times than younger runners in the “New York City Marathon” [5,16]. Nikolaidis and Knechtle found that within runners with a similar race time, athletes in the younger age groups showed larger changes in running speed during a marathon than the runners in the older age groups [9]. Based upon these findings, we have no knowledge about the influence of age, sex, and performance level on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathons of different durations. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of age, sex and performance level on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time-limited ultra-marathons. Based on the existing knowledge on marathons we hypothesized that the level of performance would be the most important factor on pacing during a time-limited ultra-marathon. Furthermore, we aimed to identify differences in pacing strategies due to age and sex. Moreover, we wanted to provide information on how the endurance of a time-limited ultra-marathon has an influence on the pacing behavior of the athletes.’.
Line 45: Remove repeating “in the”
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and removed as suggested.
Line 60-63: These two sentences are contradictory. Need further explanation to clarify these statements.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed that section to ‘An important aspect in pacing is the sex difference [11]. In marathon running, Santos-Lozano et al. found a significant variation between women and men in the pace in all splits [12]. In 100-km ultra-marathoners, women showed lower relative starting running speeds and higher finishing running speeds than men [13]. Regarding performance level, faster finishers showed fewer variations in running speed and also slow down lesser than weaker runners [14]. Breen et al. noticed that high-performing athletes used more-controlled pacing strategies during a competitive marathon than weaker runners, independent of age and sex [15]. Considering age, actual studies investigating pacing in age group marathoners showed differences in pacing between younger and older runners. Older runners were found to show slower running times than younger runners in the “New York City Marathon” [5,16]. Nikolaidis and Knechtle found that within runners with a similar race time, athletes in the younger age groups showed larger changes in running speed during a marathon than the runners in the older age groups [9]. Based upon these findings, we have no knowledge about the influence of age, sex, and performance level on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathons of different durations. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of age, sex and performance level on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time-limited ultra-marathons. Based on the existing knowledge on marathons we hypothesized that the level of performance would be the most important factor on pacing during a time-limited ultra-marathon. Furthermore, we aimed to identify differences in pacing strategies due to age and sex. Moreover, we wanted to provide information on how the endurance of a time-limited ultra-marathon has an influence on the pacing behavior of the athletes.’.
Line 64-65: The fitness level of ultra-marathon runners was never addressed in the paper. The authors might consider changing the wording, removing the phrase, or elaborating on the phrase.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed that section to ‘Based upon these findings, we have no knowledge about the influence of age, sex, and performance level on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathons of different durations. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of age, sex and performance level on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time-limited ultra-marathons. Based on the existing knowledge on marathons we hypothesized that the level of performance would be the most important factor on pacing during a time-limited ultra-marathon. Furthermore, we aimed to identify differences in pacing strategies due to age and sex. Moreover, we wanted to provide information on how the endurance of a time-limited ultra-marathon has an influence on the pacing behavior of the athletes.’
Materials and Methods:
Lines 79-85: Section 2.2: What are the confounding factors for each of these races? Did these ultramarathons take place on a racetrack, city streets, a hiking trail? What was the terrain like? The altitude? Were there significant changes in altitude during the race? How can you standardize them so that the data is comparable? (Attempted with CV)
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added ‘At the time of race evaluations, these races were the only time-limited ultra-marathons we found in Europe where all split times from all participants were available on the websites in electronic form. One of the authors was competing in several of these competitions. All races were held on asphalt where the laps were completely flat with no elevations.’ to explain. We added in the methods “CV was selected as a measure of pacing considering the different characteristics of races in term of duration and round distance”.
Line 80: Should be “Data was extracted” instead of “Data were extracted”
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed as requested.
Lines 81-83: What were the reasons behind choosing these specific ultramarathons? Hundreds of ultramarathons take place in the US each year. These choices might show bias (e.g. P. T. Nikolaidis is faculty member at university in Egaleo, Greece (municipality of Athens, where one of the ultramarathons took place))
Answer: We add ‘At the time of race evaluations, these races were the only time-limited ultra-marathons we found in Europe where all split times from all participants were available on the websites in electronic form. One of the authors was competing in several of these competitions. All races were held on asphalt where the laps were completely flat with no elevations’ to better explain. The first author checked many, many races for lap times in this kind of races. Only some races where the chip system ‘raceresult.com’ was used provided lap times of the runners. We found at the time of data collection only very few reliable data especially for the mentioned races. Meanwhile, more races might provide lap times as also more marathons provide now split times on their websites.
Lines 87-90: Spell out the units (e.g. say “the distances (in kilometers)”), leave the abbreviations for tables and figures.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘The ages of the athletes and the distances (in kilometers) during 6 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours time-limited ultra-marathons of both the male and female finishers were analyzed. Primary data included the time per lap (in minutes and in seconds) and the number of laps of each athlete’.
Lines 87-88: “age” and “were” do not go together as one is singular and the other is plural. Change to “ages” and keep “were,” or keep “age” and change to “was”
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘The ages of the athletes and the distances (in kilometers) during 6 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours time-limited ultra-marathons of both the male and female finishers were analyzed. Primary data included the time per lap (in minutes and in seconds) and the number of laps of each athlete’.
Results:
Line 107: These values (1.50, 2.01, 2.99) do not line up with the ones in Table 1 (1.35, 2.01, 2.97)
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and corrected it accordingly.
Line 146: Figure 4: The race speed scatter plot is printed too small as compared to the other tables in this section, so it is difficult to visualize the various points.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and increased its size.
Line 146-153: Figures 4-6: Unclear which equation and coefficient of determination are associated with which group (Thoroughly mixed values and text boxes placed inside the graph, sometimes overlapping values)
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added sex symbol (W or M) to clarify the equations.
Line 153: Figure 6: Forgot an “X” in one of the “Y=” equations
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and corrected it.
Discussion:
Line 160-164: This whole section is a complete copy of the results section of the abstract. The authors are therefore encouraged to please rework this section of the manuscript by providing connections to the previous literature and those literature mentioned within the introduction section.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘The main findings of this study were, (i) more men participated in the longer race distances than in the shorter ones, (ii) men were older and faster than women, (iii) finishers in the 6-hour races were the fastest, finishers in the 12-hour races were the oldest and finishers in the 24-hour races showed the most variable pacing, and (iv) the faster running speed in the 12-hour and 24-hour races was related to less variable pacing.’. in the discussion, we make then sections with these main findings and discuss with existing findings.
Lines 161-162: It is not surprising that the 6-h runners were the fastest. Participants aren’t running for as long and thus are not expected to change their pacing as much as 24 h ultramarathon runners, leading to a higher average speed.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer, but this is a finding and we cannot ignore it. Most importantly, the 6-hour races seemed not very attractive as they had the lowest number of participants. The 24-hour races were of high popularity and one might assume that the best (and fastest) ultra-marathoners compete in that races and the slowest (beginners) in the 6 hours. However, other studies might investigate the motivation of the athletes for each race duration.
Lines 165-218: Sections 4.1 - 4.3: Each section contains more than one finding. Each finding should have an individual dedicated paragraph. OR Change the title of the sections to include the other findings.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and deleted the subtitles.
Lines 173-174: Source to prove men are more competitive? This discussion section, in general, provides too much conjecture for a scientific paper.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and deleted ‘and the typically higher level of competitiveness of men’
Lines 177-178: Is that really the case? The sample size for the 6-hr races is 40 compared to 232 and 671 for 12-h and 24-h races, respectively. This violates one of the basic assumptions of the statistical analyses (similar sample sizes per group).
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added it in the limitations.
Line 188: Use a more professional term to describe agreement rather than simply stating there was “good agreement”
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘Our findings comply with these data, as we found that the age difference between men and women decreases from the 6 h to the 12 h or 24 h races’.
Lines 199-205, 231-234: It’s good that the authors are considering future directions. Maybe put these in the conclusion section instead?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and moved ‘Further investigation is definitively needful in this point to confirm the observed effect of race duration on the age of the athletes. It would be interesting to examine if the older finishers in the 12 h running events have a longstanding running experience or are just beginning to participate in ultramarathons. Nonetheless, the knowledge about these differences among age groups are of great practical value for fitness trainers and coaches that are working with master endurance runners’ to the conclusions. We also moved ‘It would be of great benefit for the coaching of athletes to find out if the pacing strategy in the beginning of the 24 h races is more even and becomes more variable at the end of the race due to additional fatigue or if the pacing is more variable right from the beginning’ to the conclusions.
Line 198: The statement about master athletes is conjecture and not backed by science.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘A potential explanation could be that master athletes may have more available time to train for these events.’
Line 201: The quote “It would be interesting to examine” sounds too colloquial.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘Future studies might examine whether the older finishers in the 12 h running events have a longstanding running experience or are just beginning to participate in ultramarathons’ which is now in the conclusions.
Line 203-204: This ending statement is true, but is there anything unique about the data presented here that hasn’t been assumed or proven before?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and deleted ‘Nonetheless, the knowledge about these differences among age groups are of great practical value for fitness trainers and coaches that are working with master endurance runners’ from the conclusions.
Line 208: Saying finishers in the 6 h were faster than those in the 12 h and 24 h is kind of data dredging as it is obvious that people who are intended to run for a shorter time are going to be faster than people intended to run for a longer time.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and reduced the statement to ‘A further important finding was that men were faster than woman by 0.40 km·h-1’.
Line 208-211: There is a missing period before the word “These”. The two sentences need rephrasing.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘The faster running speed in men than in women confirms previous studies on sex differences in endurance and ultra-marathon running’.
Lines 212-213: Female athletes do in fact have greater lower body strength as well as a smaller heart and blood volume than male athletes. Saying that the difference is partially determined by VO2max is just plain logic.
Answer: We thank the expert reviewer for confirming our statement.
Line 215: Remove the word “obvious”
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and removed as suggested.
Lines 240: The quote “pay particular attention to optimize their pacing strategies and speed” needs to be better clarified. Pay attention to WHAT specifically? That overexertion in the first half, 2/3rds, etc. of a race leads to variable pacing in the remainder of the race and can therefore greatly hinder performance times?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added as suggested.
Conclusion:
This reviewer recommends that the authors consider changing the conclusion to include a greater degree of specificity to the study findings.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to conclusion to ‘In conclusion, in this study we determined factors that correlate with pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races such as sex, age or running speed, which provide a basis for further investigations on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races. Regarding pacing, finishers in the 24-hour races showed the most variable pacing, and the faster running speed in the 12-hour and 24-hour races was related to less variable pacing. Further studies should also examine the influence of experience on pacing. Starting with the observation during this study, it would be interesting to gain more insight in the phenomenon that finishers in the 12 h races were older than in the 6 h and the 24 h races. Altogether, coaches should consider not only the sex and age of their athletes but also their pacing behavior to choose the perfect time-limited ultramarathon event for best performance outcome. The data of this study might help coaches to choose the proper duration of a race for their athletes and design the training programs accordingly. It would be of great benefit for the coaching of athletes to find out if the pacing strategy in the beginning of the 24 h races is more even and becomes more variable at the end of the race due to additional fatigue or if the pacing is more variable right from the beginning. Further investigation is needed in this point to confirm the observed effect of race duration on the age of the athletes. Future studies might examine whether the older finishers in the 12 h running events have a longer running experience or are just beginning to participate in ultramarathons.’
The authors should also address how this study will influence future research. Rather than just restating what was said before about how the data “might help” coaches.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to conclusion to ‘In conclusion, in this study we determined factors that correlate with pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races such as sex, age or running speed, which provide a basis for further investigations on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races. Regarding pacing, finishers in the 24-hour races showed the most variable pacing, and the faster running speed in the 12-hour and 24-hour races was related to less variable pacing. Further studies should also examine the influence of experience on pacing. Starting with the observation during this study, it would be interesting to gain more insight in the phenomenon that finishers in the 12 h races were older than in the 6 h and the 24 h races. Altogether, coaches should consider not only the sex and age of their athletes but also their pacing behavior to choose the perfect time-limited ultramarathon event for best performance outcome. The data of this study might help coaches to choose the proper duration of a race for their athletes and design the training programs accordingly. It would be of great benefit for the coaching of athletes to find out if the pacing strategy in the beginning of the 24 h races is more even and becomes more variable at the end of the race due to additional fatigue or if the pacing is more variable right from the beginning. Further investigation is needed in this point to confirm the observed effect of race duration on the age of the athletes. Future studies might examine whether the older finishers in the 12 h running events have a longer running experience or are just beginning to participate in ultramarathons.’
Elaborate more on how this data “might help” coaches design training programs for the future.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to conclusion to ‘In conclusion, in this study we determined factors that correlate with pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races such as sex, age or running speed, which provide a basis for further investigations on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races. Regarding pacing, finishers in the 24-hour races showed the most variable pacing, and the faster running speed in the 12-hour and 24-hour races was related to less variable pacing. Further studies should also examine the influence of experience on pacing. Starting with the observation during this study, it would be interesting to gain more insight in the phenomenon that finishers in the 12 h races were older than in the 6 h and the 24 h races. Altogether, coaches should consider not only the sex and age of their athletes but also their pacing behavior to choose the perfect time-limited ultramarathon event for best performance outcome. The data of this study might help coaches to choose the proper duration of a race for their athletes and design the training programs accordingly. It would be of great benefit for the coaching of athletes to find out if the pacing strategy in the beginning of the 24 h races is more even and becomes more variable at the end of the race due to additional fatigue or if the pacing is more variable right from the beginning. Further investigation is needed in this point to confirm the observed effect of race duration on the age of the athletes. Future studies might examine whether the older finishers in the 12 h running events have a longer running experience or are just beginning to participate in ultramarathons.’
Reviewer 2 Report
the manuscript structure is very good, and the variables analyzed are very interesting.
the discussion is very well design, stating all the variables analized with studies found.
the results presented are very important for those who are coaches or marathon runners.
it gathers the quality to be publish.
Author Response
the manuscript structure is very good, and the variables analyzed are very interesting.
the discussion is very well design, stating all the variables analized with studies found.
the results presented are very important for those who are coaches or marathon runners.
it gathers the quality to be publish
Answer: We thank the expert reviewer for his/her comments, no changes are required.
Reviewer 3 Report
Pacing in time-limited ultra-marathons from 6 to 24 hours – The aspects of age, sex and performance level
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review the manuscript. I would like to congratulate Authors for their perspicacity to analyse the current data. Indeed, scarce data exists regarding the pacing strategies of ultra-marathon athletes, while the examination of differences between distance, age and gender are really interesting for coaches and athletes. My comments are below.
Abstract
Abstract is well written and provides a good rational of the study.
Line 14: Please provide some details about your sample (age, mean best performance etc).
Lines 15-18: Although authors have a maximum word count of 200 words, I suggest adding statistical values inside the results.
Introduction:
Introduction is well written and provides a good review of the literature regarding the research question of the manuscript.
Line 24: “In competitions,….” I suggest to authors to be more specific regarding the competitions.
Line 25: Pacing regulate only fatigue or can increase running performance as well?
Line 31: Please, check the instructions for authors for adding the names of authors inside the manuscript.
Line 54: Just from curiosity, what is the level of the correlation?
Lines 64-70: Here I am confused. Authors established multiple research questions but with different order inside the paragraph. I suggest to authors to change the hypothesis position in the text and put it in the end. Moreover, place all research questions after the main purpose of the study.
Methods.
Methods needs to be improved.
Line 74: Authors send to every participant a waiver of participation in the study. Am I correct? What was the declaration of the athletes inside the waiver? Furthermore, was this a waiver or an informed consent? Did the authors collect any personal data from this (i.e. best performance, years of experience etc.)?
Line 78: I recommend to authors to add a paragraph with the description of participants (mean age for all participants and for groups, best mean performance, etc.). Again from curiosity, do authors spotted athletes with double/triple participation in the races?
Line 86: How authors determined the pace in each race?
Line 89: How authors determine the laps inside their analysis?
Line 92-93: I suggest removing this information from this paragraph and moving them above to the paragraph of participants/athletes (follow my suggestions above).
Results.
Results are crystal clear. I comment the authors for that.
Tables: Tables should be self-explanatory. Please, provide at the end of the Tables all abbreviations including n, w, m.
Discussion
Discussion does a nice job. Paragraphs are really helpful for readers. Furthermore I agree with everything. But, I suggest to authors to add a paragraph before conclusions with the limitations and suggestions for future research. There are many more research questions that arising from the present study and should be clearly stated.
Conclusions
Line 251: This is an observational study form racing results. How the results of this study may assist coaches for training programs and race duration?
Author Response
Pacing in time-limited ultra-marathons from 6 to 24 hours – The aspects of age, sex and performance level
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review the manuscript. I would like to congratulate Authors for their perspicacity to analyse the current data. Indeed, scarce data exists regarding the pacing strategies of ultra-marathon athletes, while the examination of differences between distance, age and gender are really interesting for coaches and athletes. My comments are below.
Abstract
Abstract is well written and provides a good rational of the study.
Line 14: Please provide some details about your sample (age, mean best performance etc).
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added age.
Lines 15-18: Although authors have a maximum word count of 200 words, I suggest adding statistical values inside the results.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added correlations.
Introduction:
Introduction is well written and provides a good review of the literature regarding the research question of the manuscript.
Answer: We thank the expert reviewer for his/her comments, no changes are required.
Line 24: “In competitions,….” I suggest to authors to be more specific regarding the competitions.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘Athletes strive in competitions for their optimum performance. It is mandatory to choose an optimal pacing strategy in order to resist fatigue’ based upon suggestions of reviewer 1.
Line 31: Please, check the instructions for authors for adding the names of authors inside the manuscript.
Answer:We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘Fernández-Ozcorta& Santos-Concejero reported recently that a pacing strategy with very little changes in running speed during a race could be the best during marathon running’.
Line 54: Just from curiosity, what is the level of the correlation?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added as requested.
Lines 64-70: Here I am confused. Authors established multiple research questions but with different order inside the paragraph. I suggest to authors to change the hypothesis position in the text and put it in the end. Moreover, place all research questions after the main purpose of the study.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to ‘Based upon these findings, we have no knowledge about the influence of age, sex, and performance level on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathons of different durations. Therefore, the aims of the present study were (i) to examine the effects of age, sex and performance level on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time-limited ultra-marathons, (ii) to identify differences in pacing strategies due to age and sex, and (iii) to provide information on how the endurance of a time-limited ultra-marathon has an influence on the pacing behavior of the athletes. Based on the existing knowledge on marathons we hypothesized that the level of performance would be the most important factor on pacing during a time-limited ultra-marathon’.
Methods.
Methods needs to be improved.
Line 74: Authors send to every participant a waiver of participation in the study. Am I correct? What was the declaration of the athletes inside the waiver? Furthermore, was this a waiver or an informed consent? Did the authors collect any personal data from this (i.e. best performance, years of experience etc.)?
Answer: Generally, the statistical analysis of publicly available data does not require an ethical approvement of an ethical committee. However, since some journals asked for such an approval, we asked our ethical committee to provide a statement which we now include in such studies.
Line 78: I recommend to authors to add a paragraph with the description of participants (mean age for all participants and for groups, best mean performance, etc.). Again from curiosity, do authors spotted athletes with double/triple participation in the races?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added this information in the new paragraph (“For the purpose of the study, the term finishers referred to finishes, since there were subjects with more than one finished race.”).
Line 86: How authors determined the pace in each race?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added ‘Time for each lap was recorded in the race results and running speed was calculated with distance and time for each lap’.
Line 89: How authors determine the laps inside their analysis?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added ‘Time for each lap was recorded in the race results and running speed was calculated with distance and time for each lap’.
Line 92-93: I suggest removing this information from this paragraph and moving them above to the paragraph of participants/athletes (follow my suggestions above).
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and insert a new section ‘subjects’ with these data.
Results.
Results are crystal clear. I comment the authors for that.
Answer: We thank the expert reviewer for his/her comments, no changes are required.
Tables: Tables should be self-explanatory. Please, provide at the end of the Tables all abbreviations including n, w, m.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added this information.
Discussion
Discussion does a nice job. Paragraphs are really helpful for readers. Furthermore I agree with everything. But, I suggest to authors to add a paragraph before conclusions with the limitations and suggestions for future research. There are many more research questions that arising from the present study and should be clearly stated.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added ‘A limitation is that we found only few races with all lap times to perform an analysis. Future studies might analyze more races and also longer durations such as 48 hours, 72 hours and 6 days. A further limitation was that environmental conditions could not be considered.
Conclusions
Line 251: This is an observational study form racing results. How the results of this study may assist coaches for training programs and race duration?
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and changed to conclusions to ‘In conclusion, in this study we determined factors that correlate with pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races such as sex, age or running speed, which provide a basis for further investigations on pacing in time-limited ultra-marathon races. Regarding pacing, finishers in the 24-hour races showed the most variable pacing, and the faster running speed in the 12-hour and 24-hour races was related to less variable pacing. Further studies should also examine the influence of experience on pacing. Starting with the observation during this study, it would be interesting to gain more insight in the phenomenon that finishers in the 12 h races were older than in the 6 h and the 24 h races. Altogether, coaches should consider not only the sex and age of their athletes but also their pacing behavior to choose the perfect time-limited ultramarathon event for best performance outcome. The data of this study might help coaches to choose the proper duration of a race for their athletes and design the training programs accordingly. It would be of great benefit for the coaching of athletes to find out if the pacing strategy in the beginning of the 24 h races is more even and becomes more variable at the end of the race due to additional fatigue or if the pacing is more variable right from the beginning. Further investigation is needed in this point to confirm the observed effect of race duration on the age of the athletes. Future studies might examine whether the older finishers in the 12 h running events have a longer running experience or are just beginning to participate in ultramarathons.’.
Reviewer 4 Report
This study aimed to examine the effects of age, sex and fitness level 64 on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time- 65 limited ultra-marathons—the study's overall objectives luck of novelty and innovation. Also, there are no practical conclusions for the readers.
In addition, there is a severe methodological gap. The authors compare data from three different races in Athens, Greece, Basel and Brugg Switzerland and Timisora, Romania. Since environmental factors influence the performance, the authors in their analysis did not assess them. Also, the environmental temperature is different in these three places, and accordingly, the conclusions cannot be valid.
Author Response
This study aimed to examine the effects of age, sex and fitness level 64 on pacing in female and male ultra-marathoners competing in 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h time- 65 limited ultra-marathons—the study's overall objectives luck of novelty and innovation. Also, there are no practical conclusions for the readers.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added ‘Coaches could use these findings to advise novice runners to pay particular attention to optimize their pacing strategies and running speed (i.e., overexertion in the first half, 2/3rds, etc. of a race leads to a variable pacing in the remainder of the race and can therefore greatly hinder performance times) across an endurance running event to obtain the best possible results’ at the end of the discussion.
In addition, there is a severe methodological gap. The authors compare data from three different races in Athens, Greece, Basel and Brugg, Switzerland, and Timișoara, Romania. Since environmental factors influence the performance, the authors in their analysis did not assess them. Also, the environmental temperature is different in these three places, and accordingly, the conclusions cannot be valid.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added ‘A limitation is that we found only few races with all lap times to perform an analysis. Future studies might analyze more races and also longer durations such as 48 hours, 72 hours and 6 days. A further limitation was that environmental conditions could not be considered’ at the end of the discussion.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors should be commended for their effort in addressing the reviewer's comments and suggested changes to the first version of the manuscript. Although this reviewer does still wonder whether the findings reported will have real-world applications for those performing time-limited ultramarathons, the structure and quality of the writing have been much improved. Thank you for taking those suggestions and integrating them into the submitted manuscript. The manuscript is much improved and the methods, aims, design and interpretation of the study findings are much easier to follow. Good job and best wishes for the future.
Author Response
The authors should be commended for their effort in addressing the reviewer's comments and suggested changes to the first version of the manuscript. Although this reviewer does still wonder whether the findings reported will have real-world applications for those performing time-limited ultramarathons, the structure and quality of the writing have been much improved. Thank you for taking those suggestions and integrating them into the submitted manuscript. The manuscript is much improved and the methods, aims, design and interpretation of the study findings are much easier to follow. Good job and best wishes for the future.
Answer: we thank the expert reviewer for his/her comments, no further changes are required. Based on a comment of another reviewer, we added at the end of the discussion ‘Coaches could use these findings to advise novice runners to pay particular attention to optimize their pacing strategies and running speed (i.e., overexertion in the first half, 2/3rds, etc. of a race leads to a variable pacing in the remainder of the race and can therefore greatly hinder performance times) across an endurance running event to obtain the best possible results.’.
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear Authors,
Please add details for the CV abbreviation in all figures. After that the paper will be ready for publication.
Author Response
Reviewer 3
Dear Authors,
Please add details for the CV abbreviation in all figures. After that the paper will be ready for publication.
Answer: We agree with the expert reviewer and added as suggested.
Reviewer 4 Report
The revision of this article did not address my comments, I recommend rejection.
Author Response
Reviewer 4
The revision of this article did not address my comments, I recommend rejection.
Answer: We thank the expert reviewer for his/her comments, no further changes are required.
Round 3
Reviewer 4 Report
My main concern is that the authors compare human performance in different environmental conditions(e.g. Athens Athens with an average temperature of 28.7°C, Romania average annual temperature is 11 °C etc). Since environmental conditions play a significant role in human performance, this study's results are not reliable.
Author Response
My main concern is that the authors compare human performance in different environmental conditions (e.g. Athens with an average temperature of 28.7°C, Romania average annual temperature is 11 °C etc). Since environmental conditions play a significant role in human performance, this study's results are not reliable
Answer: one of the authors has competed several times in three of the four races. The race in Athens was held in January, the minimum temperature was about 3 °C in the night and the maximum temperature about 12 °C in the afternoon. The race in Basel, Switzerland, is held at the beginning of May, the minimum temperature in the night is about 5 °C, the maximum temperature at noon is about 15 °C. The race in Brugg, Switzerland, is held end September or beginning of October, the minimum temperature in the night is at about 5 °C, the maximum temperature at noon about 12 °C. And you correctly stated that the temperature in Romania is at a similar level like the other races. We expand in the limitations to ‘In the present study, we summarized races from several years and several countries held under different weather conditions (e.g., races held in winter in Greece, in spring in Switzerland and Romania, and in autumn again in Switzerland). Different environmental conditions were not controlled, consequently caution must be taken for an extrapolation for other races under other circumstances.’
