Females run faster than males
Posted by iluvshrutiverma on December 14, 2009
Males as well as females think that males are physically stronger than females. I have been looking for data to substantiate that claim.
Females outlive men by 5 – 7 years everywhere in the world, so I tend to believe that females are physically superior species.
I told this to a friend but he was not convinced. He insisted that males are stronger and females are weaker. I asked him whether there is any data he can provide in support of his belief. He said – look at the 100m Olympic race, males invariably run faster than females.
I remembered that the men’s world record for 100m was somewhere around 9.5 seconds and the women’s world record was somewhere around 10.5 seconds. So, at first he seemed to be correct.
But then I decided to take a closer look, and this is what I did: I pulled gender-wise data from Wikipedia for World Athletics Records. Following table summarizes the data available.
WR stands for World Record.
WR(f) = WR time taken by a female to complete the race
WR(m) = WR time taken by a male to complete the race
Next I plotted them on a Chart, added a simple trend-line to the data points, here is what I get:
Here is my interpretation of this trend: For short distances, females on an average take 1.12 times the amount of time taken by males for the same distance, but as the distance goes on increasing the time taken by them as compared to the time taken by males goes on increasing. So much so, that the factor reduces to less than 1.06 for 100 kms race.
So, does this mean that if there were races longer than 100kms females would be beating males? Well, perhaps – Yes. Extrapolating the same trend line, we see that if there was a race of 209.5 km, females and males would have completed it in equal time. For any race longer than 209.5 km, females would be scoring a better timing as compared to males.
We all know that life is a long race, and therefore females beat men at life expectancy. They live 7 years longer to males. So next time do not think females are weak, because they are not!
Data Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_records_in_athletics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarathon
http://wp.me/plC3a-a9
Kavindra said
Wonderful Analysis.
Showing true signs of a learned activist
Kavi said
One more illusion busted…. Good Work
Gokul said
The trend line would be an almost horizontal line at about 1.1, the point with coordinates 1.05 and 100 alone wont give it a downward slope, that point is an exception. You need a bigger sample size to be statistically significant and hence generalise to the entire population. Just so that this argument doesn’t get shot down from the other camp
, lets correct our techniques at the nets itself.
iluvshrutiverma said
Gokul,
There are more data points for short distance races.
Therefore, to get another perspective, I just took 4 data points – 1 km, 20 km, 42 km, 100 km.
And now, The 4 corresponding ratios {WR (f)/ WR (m)} are 1.13, 1.13, 1.10, 1.05.
This curve is even more steep than the earlier one that I plotted.
Then the earlier break point (beyond which females would run faster) becomes 166 kms (in stead of 209 kms).
jinesh zaveri said
men are being cleverly used by women since centuries, with an illusion that men are superior.
Nicky said
Women do outlive men.
That’s why India thought it would kill them before they are born in the form of female infanticide, they’d kill them at the pyre in the form of sati, they’d kill them during pregnancy by not giving them proper health care and keeping them in ignorance, they’d kill them in the form of dowry deaths.
Please stop cribbing about women. If men stopped marrying b%&bs and a&&es – they would not get into such trouble!
Similarly, if women stopped marrying resumes and property papers, they’d have a better life too.
If you think it is okay for you to marry a beautiful girl for her physical appearance, it is okay for the girl to marry a guy for his money. Why cry over equality?
Prasssoon said
Niky -> you are completely mistaken and horrified by the FEMINAZI propaganda..
please visit http://prassoon.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/female-feticide-–-a-mysterious-propaganda/
and educate yourself.
BTW if you think men are marrying only beautiful girls then there wouldn’t have much married MEN in India LOL
Kavi said
Nicky,
you’ve got us wrong…. We are not cribbing for equality nor are we cribbing against girls who marry for money.
We are only cribbing against law misusers who slaughter men’s families to extort money.
(If you notice, I did not used word “women” or any word linking such misuses to female gender to which I shall give the deserved respect)
Ratika Garg said
The power of a person comes from his longevity . In Medieval ages , there were
hundreds of wars and millions of men were killed . Even in the World war I in
the battle of Somme alone more than 1.2 Million Men were killed . However when
men die people call it glory and we celebrate the death of men and call it
heroism , and when women die in Sati or Johar we call it hellish.Why this
difference ? Why does death of men be called heroic ? Have you seen the society
crying on men who die in the war , society is proud and encourages boys to be
brave and lay down their lives on the same time it tells women that life is
precious and women need to stay safe and men have the responsibility to keep
them safe. In early days men died at a far higher rate of disease , battle
wounds , hunting accidents and other acts of bravery at rate far more than women
did throughout times. Men were always considered the sacrificial goats and hence
the society encouraged the breeding of more men .
Why do you think there us female foeticide ?
Have you ever been to a cattle farm ? If a cow is born it is protected because
it can be milked and if a bull is born it is slaughtered right after birth .
This is because the farmer knows that the cows can be milked throughout their
lives and are profitable and the bull is useless. This is injustice both on the
cow and the bull. The same works for men and women too. There is female
foeticide because the society believes men need to born because they are easy to
sacrifice as compared to a woman. This is injustice to the girl no doubt but the
pain is also mush more on man who has to keep suffering his whole life. The
society has led the rapid breeding of men because men as less questions , are
more willing to work and die if needed and it is easy to justify the deaths of
men as acts of glory and of everybody is happy .
Squiddy said
you are battling a losing argument as men are GENETCLLY STRONGER AND FASTER… you bring up a good point a bout if races were longer they might win but in reality no they wouldnt, women carry exess amoun of fat which is an extra burden even though it means they can burn more the amount of energy required outweighs the energy started with so really its slowing them down.. a common misconception is girls aare mre emotional and have more willpower, well thats not true in fact men are shown to asses stressful situations better and are able to move on faster than a woman.
iluvshrutiverma said
“men are GENETCLLY STRONGER”
Then why do women live 7 years longer than men?
Squiddy said
Because men have more physical and mental labours to carry out in their life.
Please excuse grammar i have only moved to Canada 3 months ago so sorry if my spelling is off sometimes. I wonder if this proves men are smarter too?
iluvshrutiverma said
Sir,
“Because men have more physical and mental labours to carry out in their life.”
Why is it the responsibility of men to provide for women? Why can’t women take equal responsibilities?
Isn’t it unfair that one gender is expected to do more physical and mental labor?
One More Innocent, Highly Educated Guy said
There is nothing great in saying that female live 10-12 years more than male. read below.
simple fact: Heart rate of ant: 300 beats per min
life span of ant: 45-60 days.
Heart rate of elephant: 30 beats per min
life span of elephant : 70 years.
If you don’t use your brain and body then you are bound to life longer.
so this is the reason why female live longer.