HighlightsPrior to participation in meet marathon races such as Berlin marathon, elite runners should select the group that they will join during the race according to their current performance level as a preassigned pace set by a pacemaker will be adopted.Athletes could follow an even rather than positive pacing behaviour which will allow them to achieve a more optimal performance.Female runners should consider being paced by a male runner of greater performance level as runners of both sexes are allowed to run the race altogether during this type of races.
Keywords: Competition; endurance; gender; performance.