3 ms·

If men evolved to be bigger and stronger, as measured in some peak power output, surely there's a price on that? The candle that burns twice as bright burns twi

If men evolved to be bigger and stronger, as measured in some peak power output, surely there's a price on that? The candle that burns twice as bright burns twice as fast as the saying goes. Also, the article is mainly about one woman. It mentions that the gap has narrowed but in order to have any meaningful analysis we'd need more stats. Also, many, many people run marathons. So narrowing gap makes sense due to increased participation rate and better training; men and women aren't that different, on average. The extremes though are where differences truly manifest themselves.

mr_toad 7y ago
> surely there's a price on that? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone Side effects include increased aggression, risk-taking behaviour, acne, heart disease, and prostrate cancer. Men are basically taking an increased steroid dose all their life.
bloomer 7y ago
This article is about ultra marathons which have very low participation of both sexes. Likely we haven’t seen top performance for either sex. However in the marathon, the evidence is exactly opposite. The performance gap is large and widening. Paula Radcliffe has the fastest female time (male-paced) while men have continued to widen the gap to nearly 15 minutes. Even in the ultramarathon, the top times show a massive performance gap between male and female competitors. This effect truly is one of sample size. You see the same effect even in small local 5k races. Yes a fast woman can enter and win an event with a small number of competitors sometimes. These woman are faster than men in the ultramarathon articles are very poorly researched.
OscarCunningham 7y ago
> If men evolved to be bigger and stronger, as measured in some peak power output, surely there's a price on that? Perhaps the price is just that men can't give birth.
- Thiez 7y ago
  Men also die younger.

mr_toad 7y ago

> surely there's a price on that? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone Side effects include increased aggression, risk-taking behaviour, acne, heart disease, and prostrate cancer. Men are basically taking an increased steroid dose all their life.

bloomer 7y ago

This article is about ultra marathons which have very low participation of both sexes. Likely we haven’t seen top performance for either sex. However in the marathon, the evidence is exactly opposite. The performance gap is large and widening. Paula Radcliffe has the fastest female time (male-paced) while men have continued to widen the gap to nearly 15 minutes. Even in the ultramarathon, the top times show a massive performance gap between male and female competitors. This effect truly is one of sample size. You see the same effect even in small local 5k races. Yes a fast woman can enter and win an event with a small number of competitors sometimes. These woman are faster than men in the ultramarathon articles are very poorly researched.

OscarCunningham 7y ago

> If men evolved to be bigger and stronger, as measured in some peak power output, surely there's a price on that? Perhaps the price is just that men can't give birth.

Thiez 7y ago
Men also die younger.