Running is a sport that both men and women enjoy, whether they are racing in a marathon or competing for a team. Regardless of the venue, it is common to see men running faster than women. Even if both genders follow the same workout, diet, and training session, the difference in speed is quite evident.
Why Are Men Faster Than Women?
There could be several reasons why men run faster than women, but it has a lot to do with hormones and body size. Before hitting puberty, the bodies of boys and girls are fairly similar. During puberty, however, boys experience a surge of testosterone, the primary hormone produced by their sex organs. Women also produce this hormone, but by adulthood, some men have up to 20 times more testosterone than women do.
Testosterone tells the body to create new blood cells, prompting growth spurts and strengthening bones and muscles. Because men produce more of this hormone, they have an advantage in muscle.
A man's leg is made of 80% muscle, while a woman's leg has only about 60%. The extra muscle helps men run faster, and their tendency to have larger fast-twitch muscle fibers helps them with sprinting.
Body size is another factor that contributes to gender differences in running. On average, women have smaller lungs than men, so their maximal oxygen consumption is lower. It was also found that women's hearts are smaller than men's, which means that the female population has a smaller amount of oxygenated blood pumped out by the left ventricle in one beat.
As far as biomechanics is concerned, men usually have longer legs than women do. This means that they have more room for muscle and a longer stride length. As described by Johns Hopkins Medicine Women's Sports Medicine Program director Dr. Miho Tanaka, muscles work efficiently when everything is in line. If the hips are very narrow, like a man's, the quads run straight from the hips past the knees. Since women have wider hips, the muscles almost have to turn a corner, which is unlike the optimized muscle function.
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Women's Advantage in Long-Distance Running
Over recent years, more women than ever have been competing in endurance running events and challenging the stereotype that men have the advantage. In a recent study, the International Association of Ultrarunners, in collaboration with footwear review company RunRepeat, analyzed over 15,000 running events for the past 23 years.
The researchers found that females are typically faster than males over 300 kilometers or more extreme distances. The research findings demonstrate that men are faster than women in shorter distances. Still, at longer distances, the gap closes with men and women running at a similar pace for racing events over 100 miles (160.9 km).
It is still unclear why women are faster than men over extreme distances. Still, experts believe women are better at maintaining a steady pace, which is important for long-distance running performance. Another factor could be mental resilience since mental strength could be significant when running over 100 miles.
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