Why Women Eventually Beat Men at Running

To know if there really is a better runner when it comes to gender, we probably have to define "better". Because I don't think it's as cut and dried as that....

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[jamesdrury]

One thing we can all agree on is that Jasmin Paris is absolutely amazing

[paulj]

So pleased to see the recognition of Courtney's achievement here. Jasmine's was just insane and got the media attention it deserved. However I have always felt that Courtney's year went largely unreported outside of our running community. To nail all 3 of those events in one year is something equally special. As ever, great content 👌 cheers. 🎉

[johnbuchanan]

2 things,
Jasmin Paris = Legend.
I was thinking of skipping todays Long Run, Now I’m putting my shoes on, thanks 😂

[kimdecker]

I really appreciate your courage in raising potentially controversial questions. And I appreciate that you do so with an open and respectful mind. It helps us all grow!

[CatsAreTheBestPeople-mmfo]

I agree that the question doesn't matter. 😂
I was at a trail running race event today, and I can tell you that the most enjoyable thing about the day was the positive community vibe, mutual support and encouragement between fellow runners (including complete strangers), and just participating to your own best effort. And it was a bloody great day. 👍

[carsdtb]

Have a lot of love for anyone who runs any distance and takes themselves out of their comfort zone to try and get better at it.

[easyeddie]

A very common lifting of spirits I give to my female friends in my running club that are frustrated with a finish, I point out an awful lot of people - included men - are incapable of running the race they just crushed.

[amole]

Similar question was discussed recently in an episode of BBC4 podcast More or Less: Ultramarathons: Are women faster than men? The conclusion was that it is like comparing apples and oranges. The comparison was based on average finishing times. The longer the distance, fewer women sign for such races, and the one who run them are well-prepared, elite athletes. On the other hand, men are overly confident, and will attempt races even though they may not be ready yet for a given distance. This may lead to an impression that man are getting slower on longer distances, which is not necessarily true. This only shows that using single metric to compare two different groups is too a simplistic approach and does not show the full picture.

[wk]

The specificity of the rather odd 195 miles should raise alarm bells. YouTube channel "Film My Run" reached out to the authors and got a rather vague reply with no specifics. Yes the gap narrows as distance increases. There are reasons for this beyond just mental including fat utilization. But while outliers like Courteney and Jasmin are blasting the ceiling, we're still not seeing the female results we'd expect if that study were true. Probably part of that is that female participation is still lower than male. Hopefully that will continue to grow, especially with examples like Jasmin and Courteney and Camille.

[ericwehmueller]

I dont believe it has to do with pain tolerance, but rather, in longer distances, it is better to have more fat reserves and less muscle mass to carry around. Definitely, it's an advantage for women if they have more slow twitch muscle fibers. In the end, I really don't think it matters who's faster? It's just great that we can all run together. ❤️

[ArcaneSpells]

Thanks for begging the question of “what does ‘better’ actually mean?” In nearly every aspect of life women are held to the benchmark of men, in a world designed for men. It can be exhausting and demoralizing at times, so it’s nice to hear y’all support the idea that we’re ALL runners!

[tilda]

I had to explain to a guy that the fittest man will always be faster than the fittest woman because of the biological differences (like you said, the bigger heart, born with more muscle mass and less fat on average etc.), as he was criticising elite women athletes for being slower than sub elite men 🤷‍♀️

[michelleharnett]

What will also be interesting is to follow the trends as more women participate in ultras, and the amount of data we have increases.

[David-mcdw]

I thought the accepted explanation was that it's mostly a selection effect that explains why the average performance for women gets closer or exceeds men over the longest distances. For example, in UTMB only about 10% of finishers are women - so it's mostly only the strongest women who are entering or finishing, whereas a lot more men who aren't necessarily right at the top compared to their gender participate. This makes the average for men look slower than if the participation balance was 50-50.

If you look at the top runners/records, it's a fairly consistent difference with men being about 10% faster than women over all distances from 100m sprint to multiple day races.

[scottcollier]

You're right, it really doesn't matter. We should focus on ourselves as runners and let others get on with themselves. Take inspiration from others but don't compare ourselves to them.

[threatened]

There are some women in my running crew who excel in hot weather, it's incredible to see. They actually perform better in relative heat, in long distance events.

[ians]

Another great video Ben.
Ive my 1st marathon in 2 weeks, at 67 its going to be tough, have missed two weeks training due to illness so im now less confident than i was before, but as you say its a mental game as well so i, ll have to dig deep.
All the best to yiu and Mary when you get your 100k 👍👍

[jps]

For me it’s about today. 3 years ago I didn’t believe I could run a 5k. I have since run 2 half marathons. In June start training for my first marathon. Which I will be competing in at the age of 57. Male and female we all come at running with advantages and disadvantages. It about not giving up, living and running through life that’s important. Not how you compare to anyone else. I am faster then some, slower then others . At the end of the day it’s about looking in the mirror not at someone else.

[ThomasNook]

That difference as you get into the crazy ultras is incredible, there are some unbelievable women out there.

[janih]

I don't need to run 195 miles to know my wife is better than me. Not faster, or storger. Just a better person. But I'm the lucky one ❤