Trends in Three Important Physiological Attributes of World Record Runners

摘要

This article examines the progression in world running records for men and women at distances from 100 m to the marathon. At any fixed time, existing records provide information on performance attributes of elite athletes, which can be estimated using a three-parameter model of human bioenergetics. For any given distance the chronological trend can be modelled by a single exponential decline towards an ultimate limit. In both dimensions an indicator variable can be incorporated to account for gender differences. After describing the bioenergetic model briefly, I examine the current (December 2011) 2D data set of world running records. In so doing, we observe that maximal sustainable aerobic power, as represented by a critical speed, has been increasing significantly over the years, women always below men and with their relative ability now stable at around 90%. Maximal anaerobic power, as represented by a maximal 'instantaneous' speed, has a similar trend, but current relativity is around 95%. Conversely, anaerobic capacity, as represented by a distance, has been declining over the years; much more so for women than men, the two now being similar. This counter-intuitive inverse relationship between these attributes is perhaps not unexpected as it has been observed in other exercise settings.