Abstract
BACKGROUND: Participation and performance trends in age group athletes have been investigated in endurance and ultraendurance races in swimming, cycling, running, and triathlon, but not in long-distance inline skating. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in participation, age, and performance in the longest inline race in Europe, the Inline One-Eleven over 111 km, held between 1998 and 2009. METHODS: The total number, age distribution, age at the time of the competition, and race times of male and female finishers at the Inline One-Eleven were analyzed. RESULTS: Overall participation increased until 2003 but decreased thereafter. During the 12-year period, the relative participation in skaters younger than 40 years old decreased while relative participation increased for skaters older than 40 years. The mean top ten skating time was 199 ± 9 minutes (range: 189-220 minutes) for men and 234 ± 17 minutes (range: 211-271 minutes) for women, respectively. The gender difference in performance remained stable at 17% ± 5% across years. CONCLUSION: To summarize, although the participation of master long-distance inline skaters increased, the overall participation decreased across years in the Inline One-Eleven. The race times of the best female and male skaters stabilized across years with a gender difference in performance of 17% ± 5%. Further studies should focus on the participation in the international World Inline Cup races.