Endurance and age: evidence from long-distance running data
This paper analyzes the impact of aging on long-run endurance. We analyze the determinants of running speed on distances from 5K to the marathon. We model running speed as a function of distance, age, and sex. We find evidence for interaction between age and sex, but not between distance and sex. Our model shows that official track and field age grading overestimates human performance at high ages, although athletes are still able to perform at a high level at old ages.