Source
Department of Orthopaedics, Yale University, Yale Physicians Building, 800 Howard Avenue, New Haven, CT 06512, USA. peter.jokl@yale.edu
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Physical activity in older people is believed to slow down the natural aging process through its effects on disuse atrophy.
OBJECTIVES:
To show that elite master (age above 50) male and female athletes, as a group, have improved their running times over the last two decades at a greater rate than their younger counterparts.
METHODS:
Running time, age, and sex of all 415,000 runners in the New York City Marathon from 1983 to 1999 were examined using linear regression analysis.
RESULTS:
The number of master participants increased at a greater rate than their younger counterparts (p<0.05). Running times for the top 50 male and female finishers over the past two decades showed significantly greater improvement in the master groups than in the younger age groups (p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS:
Participation in the New York City Marathon is increasing at a higher rate in the master groups than in other age groups. Male and female masters continued to improve running times at a greater rate than the younger athletes, whose performance levels have plateaued. This is the largest study to compare master athletic performance with younger counterparts and men with women.