Physiological and Race Pace Characteristics of Medium and Low-Level Athens Marathon Runners

This study examined physiological and race pace characteristics of medium- (finish time < 240 min) and low-level (finish time > 240 min) recreational runners who participated in a challenging marathon route with rolling hills, the Athens Authentic Marathon. Fifteen athletes (age: 42 ± 7 years) performed an incremental test, three to nine days before the 2018 Athens Marathon, to determine maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2) max), maximal aerobic velocity (MAV), energy cost of running (ECr) and lactate threshold velocity (vLTh), and were analyzed for their pacing during the race. Moderate- (n = 8) compared with low-level (n = 7) runners had higher (p < 0.05) VO(2) max (55.6 ± 3.6 vs. 48.9 ± 4.8 mL·kg(−1)·min(−1)), MAV (16.5 ± 0.7 vs. 14.4 ± 1.2 km·h(−1)) and vLTh (11.6 ± 0.8 vs. 9.2 ± 0.7 km·h(−1)) and lower ECr at 10 km/h (1.137 ± 0.096 vs. 1.232 ± 0.068 kcal·kg(−1)·km(−1)). Medium-level runners ran the marathon at a higher percentage of vLTh (105.1 ± 4.7 vs. 93.8 ± 6.2%) and VO(2) max (79.7 ± 7.7 vs. 68.8 ± 5.7%). Low-level runners ran at a lower percentage (p < 0.05) of their vLTh in the 21.1–30 km (total ascent/decent: 122 m/5 m) and the 30–42.195 km (total ascent/decent: 32 m/155 m) splits. Moderate-level runners are less affected in their pacing than low-level runners during a marathon route with rolling hills. This could be due to superior physiological characteristics such as VO(2) max, ECr, vLTh and fractional utilization of VO(2) max. A marathon race pace strategy should be selected individually according to each athlete’s level.