The Effect of the Pacing Strategy of High School Male Cross Country Runners on the Finish Time and Heart Rate of the Runners
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Physiology and Health
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Written Paper Award
4th Place
Abstract
Pacing strategy is something all runners have to consider every time they race. It can be difficult to correctly pace, especially for high school runners. The purpose of this project was to analyze the pacing of the cross country runners tested to better understand necessary pacing for medium distance races. It was hypothesized that if the effect of performing with even pacing in male high school cross country runners was tested, then it would be found that even pacing proved to bring overall faster finishing times and slower increasing heart rate throughout the race compared to pacing that did not qualify as even. The participants of this experiment consisted of a group of ten boys from a high school cross country team, running three threshold runs consisting of 4 miles each. The heart rate was looked at before the workout and at each mile marker, for a total of 5 readings. The evening pacing group showed faster finish times and lower percentage heart rate increase for the means and medians. One-way ANOVAs were done at α = 0.1 to differentiate between the two groups in relation to heart rate increase and finish time. The ANOVA dealing with heart rate yielded a p-value of 0.649, meaning the difference in heart rate was not found to be significant. However, the ANOVA testing difference in finish time had a p-value of 0.000. This proved it to be significant, meaning the even pacing group was found to run faster overall finish times.
Recommended Citation
Wild, Mark, "The Effect of the Pacing Strategy of High School Male Cross Country Runners on the Finish Time and Heart Rate of the Runners" (2018). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 193.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2018/all/193
Location
Neville 121
Start Date
4-14-2018 10:45 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
The Effect of the Pacing Strategy of High School Male Cross Country Runners on the Finish Time and Heart Rate of the Runners
Neville 121
Pacing strategy is something all runners have to consider every time they race. It can be difficult to correctly pace, especially for high school runners. The purpose of this project was to analyze the pacing of the cross country runners tested to better understand necessary pacing for medium distance races. It was hypothesized that if the effect of performing with even pacing in male high school cross country runners was tested, then it would be found that even pacing proved to bring overall faster finishing times and slower increasing heart rate throughout the race compared to pacing that did not qualify as even. The participants of this experiment consisted of a group of ten boys from a high school cross country team, running three threshold runs consisting of 4 miles each. The heart rate was looked at before the workout and at each mile marker, for a total of 5 readings. The evening pacing group showed faster finish times and lower percentage heart rate increase for the means and medians. One-way ANOVAs were done at α = 0.1 to differentiate between the two groups in relation to heart rate increase and finish time. The ANOVA dealing with heart rate yielded a p-value of 0.649, meaning the difference in heart rate was not found to be significant. However, the ANOVA testing difference in finish time had a p-value of 0.000. This proved it to be significant, meaning the even pacing group was found to run faster overall finish times.
