{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,14]],"date-time":"2025-05-14T04:23:34Z","timestamp":1747196614361,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]],"date-time":"2024-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1724284800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present study intended to determine the nationality of the fastest 100-mile ultra-marathoners and the country\/events where the fastest 100-mile races are held. A machine learning model based on the XG Boost algorithm was built to predict the running speed from the athlete\u2019s age (<jats:italic>Age group<\/jats:italic>), gender (<jats:italic>Gender<\/jats:italic>), country of origin (<jats:italic>Athlete country<\/jats:italic>) and where the race occurred (<jats:italic>Event country<\/jats:italic>). Model explainability tools were then used to investigate how each independent variable influenced the predicted running speed. A total of 172,110 race records from 65,392 unique runners from 68 different countries participating in races held in 44 different countries were used for analyses. The model rates <jats:italic>Event country<\/jats:italic> (0.53) as the most important predictor (based on data entropy reduction), followed by <jats:italic>Athlete country<\/jats:italic> (0.21), <jats:italic>Age group<\/jats:italic> (0.14), and <jats:italic>Gender<\/jats:italic> (0.13). In terms of participation, the United States leads by far, followed by Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, and Japan, in both athlete and event counts. The fastest 100-mile races are held in Romania, Israel, Switzerland, Finland, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Czechia, and Taiwan. The fastest athletes come mostly from Eastern European countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Finland, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia) and also Israel. In contrast, the slowest athletes come from Asian countries like China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. The difference among male and female predictions is relatively small at about 0.25 km\/h. The fastest age group is 25\u201329 years, but the average speeds of groups 20\u201324 and 30\u201334 years are close. Participation, however, peaks for the age group 40\u201344 years. The model predicts the event location (country of event) as the most important predictor for a fast 100-mile race time. The fastest race courses were occurred in Romania, Israel, Switzerland, Finland, Russia, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Czechia, and Taiwan. Athletes and coaches can use these findings for their race preparation to find the most appropriate racecourse for a fast 100-mile race time.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0303960","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]],"date-time":"2024-08-22T17:53:35Z","timestamp":1724349215000},"page":"e0303960","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Using machine learning to determine the nationalities of the fastest 100-mile ultra-marathoners and identify top racing events"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2412-9103","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Beat","family":"Knechtle","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katja","family":"Weiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Valero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elias","family":"Villiger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pantelis T.","family":"Nikolaidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marilia Santos","family":"Andrade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Volker","family":"Scheer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ivan","family":"Cuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Robert","family":"Gajda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mabliny","family":"Thuany","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]]},"reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0303960.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1096-0980","article-title":"Defining Off-road Running: A Position Statement from the Ultra Sports Science Foundation","volume":"41","author":"V Scheer","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Sports Med"},{"key":"pone.0303960.ref002","unstructured":"RunRepeat. The State of Ultra Running 2020 2021 [cited 2021 24 September 2021]. https:\/\/runrepeat.com\/state-of-ultra-running."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0303960.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina57010052","article-title":"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on endurance and ultra-endurance running","volume":"57","author":"V Scheer","year":"2021","journal-title":"Medicina"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0303960.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1877","DOI":"10.1080\/09523367.2010.494385","article-title":"Historical analysis of participation in 161 km ultramarathons in North America","volume":"27","author":"M Hoffman","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int J Hist Sport"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0303960.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e001005","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjsem-2020-001005","article-title":"Influence of a 100-mile ultramarathon on heart rate and heart rate variability","volume":"7","author":"C Paech","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0303960.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"248","DOI":"10.1016\/S0735-1097(87)80113-4","article-title":"100-Mile Western States Endurance Run: a physiologic stress laboratory","volume":"9","author":"HD McIntosh","year":"1987","journal-title":"J Am Coll Cardiol"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0303960.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0241284","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0241284","article-title":"Mental toughness and self-efficacy of elite ultra-marathon runners","volume":"15","author":"AW Brace","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0303960.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164","DOI":"10.1080\/15438627.2012.757230","article-title":"Characteristics of 161-km ultramarathon finishers developing exercise-associated hyponatremia","volume":"21","author":"MD Hoffman","year":"2013","journal-title":"Res Sports Med"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0303960.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2191","DOI":"10.1249\/MSS.0b013e3181a8d553","article-title":"The western states 100-mile endurance run: Participation and performance trends","volume":"41","author":"MD Hoffman","year":"2009","journal-title":"Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0303960.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"536","DOI":"10.1123\/ijspp.8.5.536","article-title":"The effect of physiology and hydration beliefs on race behavior and postrace sodium in 161-km ultramarathon finishers","volume":"8","author":"JM Winger","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int J Sports Physiol Perform"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0303960.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1097\/JSM.0000000000000144","article-title":"Incidence of Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia and Its Association With Nonosmotic Stimuli of Arginine Vasopressin in the GNW100s Ultra-endurance Marathon","volume":"25","author":"RS Cairns","year":"2015","journal-title":"Clin J Sport Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0303960.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1123\/ijspp.6.1.25","article-title":"Factors related to successful completion of a 161-km ultramarathon","volume":"6","author":"MD Hoffman","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int J Sports Physiol Perform"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0303960.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1186\/s40798-015-0040-x","article-title":"Sodium Intake During an Ultramarathon Does Not Prevent Muscle Cramping, Dehydration, Hyponatremia, or Nausea","volume":"1","author":"MD Hoffman","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sports Med Open"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0303960.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1097\/JSM.0b013e3181da53ea","article-title":"Can changes in body mass and total body water accurately predict hyponatremia after a 161-km running race?","volume":"20","author":"DK Lebus","year":"2010","journal-title":"Clin J Sport Med"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0303960.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"754","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2010.05.070","article-title":"Upper limits of physiological cardiac adaptation in ultramarathon runners","volume":"57","author":"KP George","year":"2011","journal-title":"J Am Coll Cardiol"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0303960.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"277","DOI":"10.1016\/j.echo.2016.01.011","article-title":"Recommendations for the Evaluation of Left Ventricular Diastolic Function by Echocardiography: An Update from the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging","volume":"29","author":"SF Nagueh","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Am Soc Echocardiogr"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0303960.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1007\/s00421-014-2995-6","article-title":"The right ventricle following ultra-endurance exercise: insights from novel echocardiography and 12-lead electrocardiography","volume":"115","author":"R Lord","year":"2015","journal-title":"Eur J Appl Physiol"},{"key":"pone.0303960.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"331","DOI":"10.1186\/2193-1801-3-331","article-title":"Age group performances in 100 km and 100 miles ultra-marathons","volume":"3","author":"CA R\u00fcst","year":"2014","journal-title":"SpringerPlus"},{"issue":"13","key":"pone.0303960.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph16132377","article-title":"Women Reduce the Performance Difference to Men with Increasing Age in Ultra-Marathon Running","volume":"16","author":"KJ Waldvogel","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0303960.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1220","DOI":"10.1080\/17461391.2017.1358767","article-title":"Acute fatigue negatively affects risk factors for injury in trained but not well-trained habitually shod runners when running barefoot","volume":"17","author":"N Tam","year":"2017","journal-title":"Eur J Sport Sci"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0303960.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1123\/ijsnem.2015-0030","article-title":"Competition Nutrition Practices of Elite Ultramarathon Runners","volume":"26","author":"T Stellingwerff","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0303960.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1054","DOI":"10.1123\/ijspp.2013-0556","article-title":"Pacing by winners of a 161-km mountain ultramarathon","volume":"9","author":"MD Hoffman","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int J Sports Physiol Perform"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0303960.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"909","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2007-964966","article-title":"Effect of NSAID on muscle injury and oxidative stress","volume":"28","author":"S McAnulty","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int J Sports Med"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0303960.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1075","DOI":"10.1249\/mss.0b13e31804a8611","article-title":"Ibuprofen use during extreme exercise: effects on oxidative stress and PGE2","volume":"39","author":"SR McAnulty","year":"2007","journal-title":"Med Sci Sports Exerc"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0303960.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1415","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-023-28398-2","article-title":"A macro to micro analysis to understand performance in 100-mile ultra-marathons worldwide","volume":"13","author":"M Thuany","year":"2023","journal-title":"Scientific Reports"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0303960.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"538","DOI":"10.1123\/ijspp.2018-0093","article-title":"An Integrated, Multifactorial Approach to Periodization for Optimal Performance in Individual and Team Sports","volume":"13","author":"I Mujika","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int J Sports Physiol Perform"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0303960.ref027","first-page":"734","article-title":"Current concepts in periodization of strength and conditioning for the sports physical therapist","volume":"10","author":"D Lorenz","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int J Sports Phys Ther"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0303960.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17072543","article-title":"The Role of Nationality in Ultra-Endurance Sports: The Paradigm of Cross-Country Skiing and Long-Distance Running","volume":"17","author":"B Knechtle","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0303960.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"611","DOI":"10.1123\/ijspp.8.6.611","article-title":"Men cross America faster than women\u2014the \"Race Across America\" from 1982 to 2012","volume":"8","author":"CA R\u00fcst","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int J Sports Physiol Perform"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0303960.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"880","DOI":"10.1080\/17461391.2019.1688396","article-title":"Marathon pacing ability: Training characteristics and previous experience","volume":"20","author":"P Swain","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur J Sport Sci"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0303960.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6980","DOI":"10.3390\/su13126980","article-title":"Motivational Differences between 5K Runners, Marathoners and Ultramarathoners in Poland","volume":"13","author":"M Rozmiarek","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0303960.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"881","DOI":"10.2165\/00007256-200838110-00001","article-title":"Strategies for Improving Performance in Long Duration Events","volume":"38","author":"C Hausswirth","year":"2008","journal-title":"Sports Medicine"},{"key":"pone.0303960.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2022.862396","article-title":"Carbohydrate Intake Practices and Determinants of Food Choices During Training in Recreational, Amateur, and Professional Endurance Athletes: A Survey Analysis","volume":"9","author":"C Reinhard","year":"2022","journal-title":"Frontiers in Nutrition"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0303960.ref034","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e37407","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0037407","article-title":"Impact of environmental parameters on marathon running performance","volume":"7","author":"NE Helou","year":"2012","journal-title":"Plos One"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0303960","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]],"date-time":"2024-08-22T17:54:13Z","timestamp":1724349253000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0303960"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Stevo","family":"Popovic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0303960","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1932-6203"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,22]]}}}