"Let’s be honest: women have been enduring for centuries" – inside the rise of female endurance athletes

Illustration of a female athlete.

At the end of a marathon, the first runners crossing the finish line are most likely going to be men. In fact, men tend to outperform women by 10-12% in regular marathons.

However, research shows that in ultra-distance competitions that last longer than six hours, the disparity can be as small as 4%, and for races above 195 miles, women were recorded as 0.6% faster than men.