Russians are the fastest and the youngest in the "Comrades Marathon"

The present retrospective study intended to determine age, performance, the role of nationality and participation trends across calendar years in runners competing in "Comrades Marathon", the ultra-marathon with the longest tradition and the highest number of finishers worldwide. We analysed 235,467 finishers (40,211 women and 195,256 men) competing between 1994 and 2017. In women and men, Russians were the fastest (12.55 ± 2.03 km/h and 12.24 ± 2.93 km/h, respectively) and Indians the slowest (7.87 ± 0.64 km/h and 7.91 ± 0.60 km/h) (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.053 and η2 = 0.010, small effect size, ES). Also, Russians were the youngest (33.9 ± 4.6 and 36.3 ± 5.9 years, respectively) and Japanese the oldest (49.3 ± 9.6 and 51.4 ± 12.3 years, respectively) (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.011, small ES). Performance improved (r = 0.90 in women and r = 0.92 in men), age of finishers (r = 0.91 in women and r = 0.97 in men), participation (r = 0.92 in women and r = 0.87 in men) and sex difference in age increased (r = 0.71), whereas men-to-women ratio (r = -0.91) and sex difference in performance (r = -0.68) decreased across calendar years (p < 0.001). In summary, runners from Russia were the fastest and the youngest in both sexes. The knowledge of the relationship of nationality with performance, age and participation trends of finishers, and changes across calendar years are of practical importance for ultra-runners and coaches working with them.