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Validation of A 5K age and weight run handicap model
Abstract
Though increasing age and body weight (BW) have been widely known to be associated with slower distance run times, the common convention in 5K road races is to categorize competitors by age and, sometimes, BW. This has the disadvantage of assigning only small numbers of competitors to age categories and giving advantage to runners close to the minimum age or BW values allowable. Using recent advances in the modeling of distance run performance by BW combined with empirical evidence quantifying the independent effect of age on cardiovascular endurance, we previously published the derivation of the 5K Handicap (5KH), an age and BW handicap model for the 5K road race. With the inputs of age, BW and actual run time, the 5KH computes an adjusted run time which can be used to compare runners of different age and BW within the same gender. In this study, we field tested the 5KH in two local races with 275 men and 126 women. Results suggest that the 5KH eliminates the age and BW bias, and may provide more incentive for older and heavier runners to compete. Furthermore, the BW bias in the 5K tended to be lower for women than for men. The first scientifically-based age and BW graded system, the 5KH appears valid for both genders and may have application for other race distances and fitness testing environments.
... T o account for the inevitable age-and body weight (BW)-related declines in distance running potential, the 5K handicap (5KH) was developed (16) and validated (15). On the basis of the scientific literature, it adjusted one's actual 5K run time (RT) by the documented independent effects of age and BW. ...
... In a recent validation study (15) of the 5KH with 275 male runners, the correlation between BW and RTadj was small but significant (r = 0.134, p = 0.0263), indicating that the 5KH did not remove all BW bias. Researchers hypothesized that, compared with faster runners, slower runners ran at a smaller percentage of maximum capability and had more BF. ...
... Power analysis revealed that the minimum sample size to accomplish this was N = 80. Women were not recruited because, in a previous validation study using the same race, women were generally hesitant to be weighed (15). Subjects were recruited both at prerace registration and on race day via a T-shirt incentive. ...
The 5K handicap (5KH), designed to eliminate the body weight (BW) and age biases inherent in the 5K run time (RT), yields an adjusted RT (RTadj) that can be compared between runners of different BW and age. As hypothesized in a validation study, however, not all BW bias may be removed, because of the influences of body fatness (BF) and effort (run speed; essentially the inverse as measured by rating of perceived exertion (RPE)). This study's purpose was to determine the effects of BF and RPE on BW bias in the 5KH. For 99 male runners in a regional 5K race (age = 43.9 +/- 12.1 years; BW = 83.4 +/- 12.9 kg), BF was determined via sum of three skinfolds just before the race. RPE, on the 20-point Borg scale, was used to assess overall race effort on race completion. Multiple regression analysis was used to develop a new adjusted RT (NRTadj, the RTadj corrected for BF and RPE), which was computed for each runner and then correlated with BW to determine bias. Indicative of slight bias, BW was correlated with RTadj (r = 0.220, p = 0.029). Both BF (p = 0.00002) and RPE (p = 0.0005) were significant, independent predictors of RTadj. NRTadj was not significantly correlated with BW (r = 0.051, p = 0.61), but BF explained 90%, and RPE explained only 6%, of the remaining BW bias evidenced in the 5KH. The previous finding that the 5KH does not remove all BW bias is apparently accounted for by BF and not RPE. Because no handicap should be awarded for higher BF, this finding suggests that the 5KH, for men, appropriately adjusts for the age and BW vs. RT biases previously noted.
... Motivation research was carried out to try and determine the motives for athletes to participate in different races, e.g., to run the 5K distance [8,9], a distance that has been associated with charity running events [10,11] or related to age and weight run handicap model [12]. Likewise, motivations related to running a marathon have been addressed in the literature [13][14][15]. ...
... Partially in line with these results, our study shows how motivation scores related to health orientation and affiliation are higher in 5K and marathon runners than in ultramarathoners. Running 5K distance can even provide a greater incentive for older and heavier runners to compete [12]. ...
The aim of the study was to determine the reasons for practicing different running distances (5K run, marathon, and ultramarathon), and to analyze the differences in each type according to gender, age, and marital status. An empirical study was conducted during the 2020 Karkonosze Winter Ultramarathon, 20th PKO Poznan Marathon, and 5K run—Parkrun Poznan and City Trail, over the course of which we interviewed 925 runners. A total of 267 ultramarathoners, 493 marathon runners, and 165 Parkrun and City Trail participants took part in the cross-sectional study, which used the diagnostic survey method. The questionnaire employed the division of motives used by the Motivation of Marathoners Scale (MOMS) by Masters et al., adapted to the Polish language by Dybała. No significant differences were found in any of the disciplines based on gender or marital status, although the results showed that weight concern increased with increasing age range in all the running distances analyzed. In addition, in 5K run and marathon runners, weight concern decreased in the 36 to 50 age range, but subsequently increased in those over 51 years of age. Therefore, it will be important for coaches and other professionals to consider athletes’ age when trying to understand their motives to participate in different disciplines.
An age and body mass handicap has been previously developed and validated for the 5-kilometer (5K) run. The purpose of this study was to develop a similar handicap for the marathon but with a different age adjustment based on deviations from age group world best marathon times within each sex. The resulting handicap allowed finish time comparisons between marathoners of different age and body mass within the same sex. Applied to the top 15 men and women overall and top 10 in each age group of a recent marathon, age bias was reduced by 99.3% and 98.5% for women and men, respectively. This age and body mass handicap appears valid based on empirical analyses for age and extrapolation from empirical data at the 5-km distance for body mass. The marathon body mass handicap should be empirically evaluated in future research.
Recently, a fitness competition called the Pump and Run (PR) has been popularized. Composed of 2 events, a 5-km road race time (RT) in seconds and a maximal-repetition bench press (BPR) with resistance based on a percentage of body mass (M), the final score (RTadj) equals RT - 30(BPR). From published findings, the authors hypothesized that the PR would impose a bias against heavier competitors. Furthermore, the potential for age bias in this event has not been evaluated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate M and age bias in the PR for men and women. For 74 female and 343 male competitors in a large PR event, RT, BPR, M, and age were collected from official competition results. Two subsamples were randomly created from the original sample: the validation (VAL) (54 women and 258 men) and the cross-validation (CVAL) (20 women and 85 men). For the VAL sample, the RTadj showed significant bias against heavier runners (women r = 0.35; men r = 0.28; P < 0.01 for both) but no age bias (women r = 0.04; men r = 0.005; P > 0.05 for both). Using allometric modeling, the authors developed a set of M-based correction factors to be multiplied by each RTadj to yield new adjusted run times (NRTadj) that would be free of M bias. As applied to the CVAL sample, the NRTadj values virtually eliminated the M bias (women r = 0.04; men r = 0.002; P > 0.05 for both) of the current PR scoring system and retained the absence of age bias (women r = 0.02; men r = 0.0002; P > 0.05 for both). The authors recommend the use of the NRTadj scores for future PR competitions.
The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of no body weight (BW) adjustment on 2-mile run time (TMRT) for college-age men. Allometric scaling can be used to find the value for [alpha] such that TMRT[middle dot]BW-[alpha] is a valid scaling for TMRT based on the relationship between TMRT and BW. Subjects, 59 male military academy cadets 18 to 25 years of age, had BW, fat-free weight (FFW) estimated from skinfolds, and TMRT assessed. Allometric scaling yielded the values of [alpha] for BW and FFW: 0.40 +/- 0.086 and 0.31 +/- 0.128, respectively, indicating that for college-age men, the use of TMRT as the index of aerobic fitness without adjustment for BW or FFW may penalize those who are heavier due to higher FFW, not just higher percent body fat.
(C) 1995 National Strength and Conditioning Association
Because maximal strength varies with body mass, the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) has adopted a method of adjusting powerlifting events (bench press, BP; squat, SQ; deadlift, DL, and total lift (the sum of BP, DL, and SQ), TOT) by body mass. This method, the Wilks formula, multiplies one's lift by an index based on body mass so that lifters of different size can be compared on the same event. The Wilks formula is not, however, based on published data and has yet to be critically evaluated. The purpose of this investigation, then, was to validate the Wilks formula.
This was performed by 1) examining residuals bias to verify that the adjusted score does, in fact, lead to no systematic bias based on body mass and 2) by applying a more theoretically supportable allometric model to the same data and comparing the fit with the Wilks approach. Subjects were the current men's and women's world record holders as well as the top two performers for each event in the IPF's 1996 and 1997 World Championships (a total of 30 men and 27 women for each lift).
Results of data analysis regarding the Wilks formula indicate that: 1) there is no bias for men's or women's BP and TOT; 2) there is a favorable bias toward intermediate weight class lifters in the women's SQ with no bias for men's SQ; and 3) there is a linear unfavorable bias toward heavier men and women in the DL. Furthermore, the allometric approach indicated a bias against light and heavy men and women which may be considered acceptable given that half as many lifters are found in the lightest and heaviest weight classes as in the intermediate weight classes.
As used currently (BP and TOT only), the Wilks formula appears to be a valid method to adjust powerlifting scores by body mass.
Metabolic responses to submaximal and maximal treadmill (TM) running and 12-min run performance were measured in 10 female and 10 male adults who regularly engaged in distance running to experimentally investigate the extent to which differences between men and women in metabolic responses to exercise and distance running performance are due to the sex difference in % body fat. The males were studied under two conditions: (1) with normal body weight and (2) with external weight added to the trunk so that the total percent excess weight (% EW) was equal to the % fat of a matched female. Under the added-weight condition, % EW of the males was increased by an average of 7.5%, the mean sex difference in % fat. Equating % EW reduced the mean sex difference in TM run time by 1.3 min (32%) and 12-min run performance by 173 m (30%). These changes in running performance were the result of an average 3.0 ml/min.kg (38%) reduction in the sex difference for the oxygen required per unit fat-free weight (FFW) to run at various submaximal speeds and a 3.9 ml . min-1 . kg-1 (65%) reduction in the sex difference for VO2max expressed relative to the total weight carried. It was concluded that the greater sex-specific, essential body fat of women is one determinant of the sex difference in metabolic responses to running and distance running performance. Because of her greater body fatness, the average woman will utilize more oxygen per unit FFW to run at any given submaximal speed, will have a lower VO2max expressed relative to body weight and, as a result, will maintain a speed on the 12-min run or other similar distance running event which is slower than her male counterpart. Since the sex-specific, essential fat of women cannot be eliminated by diet or training, it provides part of a biological justification for separate distance running performance standards and expectations for men and women.
An attenuated baroreflex response and orthostatic intolerance have been reported in endurance-trained male athletes; however, it is still unknown whether this occurs also in females. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether endurance exercise-trained women had a predisposition to orthostatic compromise, and if so, what causative factor(s) may induce orthostatic intolerance.
We studied cardiovascular and hormonal responses to graded lower body negative pressure (LBNP) (0 to -60 mm Hg) in 26 middle-distance female runners (18.6 +/- 0.1 yr) as the exercise-trained (ET) subjects and 23 age-matched untrained (UT) control subjects. On the basis of the occurrence of syncope episodes during LBNP, ET and UT subjects were further allocated to two groups; ET with presyncope (ET+syncope) and without presyncope (ET-syncope) and UT with presyncope (UT+syncope) and without presyncope (UT-syncope).
Occurrence of presyncope episodes during LBNP was higher in ET (65.4%, P < 0.05) than that for UT (34.8%). Leg compliance was higher (P < 0.05) in ET than in UT. LBNP reduced stroke volume (SV) more (P < 0.05), increased heart rate (HR) higher (P < 0.05), and increased forearm vascular resistance (FVR) more in ET+syncope as compared with the other groups. Response of vasoactive hormones to LBNP was higher in ET+syncope (P < 0.05) than that of the other groups except for norepinephrine (NE); high in both ET+syncope and UT+syncope. The relationship between SV and NE, an index of sympathetic neuronal response, had no training-related changes during LBNP.
We conclude that exercise-trained females have a high incidence of orthostatic intolerance during LBNP, with a greater reduction of SV independent of changes in baroreflex and neurohumoral function. A lower incidence of LBNP intolerance in UT may be accounted for by a lower reduction of SV during LBNP. An increase in leg compliance in the exercise-trained females may play an important role in inducing pronounced reduction of SV and hence the intolerance to LBNP.