Study on the Berlin Marathon: Men experience "Hitting the Wall" significantly more often than women

Runners understand "Hitting the Wall" to mean a sudden drop in performance that occurs when the body has exhausted its readily available energy reserves. Specifically, the research team around the Swiss Beat Knechtle defined "Hitting the Wall" as a reduction in average pace of at least 20 percent in the second half of the marathon compared with the first half of the race. Glycogen, the storage form of glucose, serves the body as a short-term energy reserve.

What "Hitting the Wall" means

When looking at gender, the finding is clear: almost 18 percent of male runners experienced the phenomenon, compared with under 10 percent of women. Among male runners who completed the marathon in under three hours, the frequency of the performance drop was even six times higher than among women (1.42 versus 0.23 percent). In 52 percent of women, no clear decline in performance was discernible over the course of the marathon – this was the case for only just over a third of men (36 percent).

Co-author Aldo Seffrin emphasizes that the problem is not a beginner phenomenon: "Es sei interessant und überraschend, dass der plötzliche Leistungseinbruch bei Männern kein Anfängerproblem sei, sondern bei den sehr schnellen Läufern sogar besonders häufig ausgeprägt gewesen sei." Another finding shows that the fitness and experience of the male starters offered no protection either: "Dass sie fitter und erfahrener waren, hat die Männer nicht geschützt."

Possible reasons: Metabolism and behavior

As a possible reason, the team points out that the female body uses its glycogen stores more sparingly when running. Gender-specific differences in metabolism and in the proportion of certain muscle fiber types could effectively delay the glycogen deficiency that triggers the phenomenon "Hitting the Wall." Seffrin summarizes the pace distribution as follows: "Männer kamen im Durchschnitt schneller ins Ziel, verteilten ihre Kräfte jedoch weniger sorgfältig. Frauen liefen gleichmäßiger und hielten ihr Tempo auch in der zweiten Hälfte."

In addition to biological explanations, the researchers also discuss behavioral differences. From behavioral research, it is also known that men tend to overestimate themselves and be more willing to take risks. In the context of a marathon, in which the pace is self-determined, this can translate into a higher starting pace. However, these are only speculations by the research team; the current study did not collect data on this.

Recommendation: Conservative start, accelerate later

The authors write that it was already known from previous research that men more often slow down over the course of a longer run. However, it had not yet been demonstrated whether the phenomenon can be observed in large cohorts, i.e., on a larger scale. The new analysis closes this gap with the most comprehensive dataset to date for a city marathon.

Specifically, the researchers recommend that men distribute their pace differently during the race: "Die Forscher empfehlen Männern, langsamer ins Rennen zu starten und erst später zu beschleunigen. So könne das Risiko für 'Hitting the Wall' möglicherweise reduziert werden." Seffrin adds "dass viele Männer davon profitieren würden, wenn sie konservativer starten würden". Knechtle himself says he is an enthusiastic and regular marathon runner and is therefore familiar with the phenomenon from personal experience.

The study was reported on, among others, by Deutschlandfunk on July 4, 2026. It thus provides marathon runners with a clear practical recommendation: those who want to reduce the risk of a sudden performance drop should deliberately run more slowly at the start of the race – and save the acceleration for the second half.