Are women better than men at racing?

"Women are 'better' than men at running marathons." Well that's great news. This does not mean that they are faster, this means that they are better at keeping a steady pace. I believe that this is because women tend to underestimate themselves while men over estimate themselves during a race.
Women start out their races slow, because they underestimate how fit they actually are. On the flip side, men start out at a quick pace, believing that they are in better shape than they actually are. There is a term that I learned in my AP Psychology class that comes to mind. Over-confidence. It's pretty straight forward, it is when you believe you can do more than you actually can. In a race, because women start out slower, it is less likely that they will "hit a wall" and feel the need to slow down. Men however, sometime during the race will realize that they are moving too fast and slow down.
It has been studied over the course of 6 years, using millions of people and a wide variety of different races, so I want to believe that the statistics are true, however I am still not so sure. During cross country, I find that in both the women's and men's races, there are some runners that take it too slow at the beginning and some that take it too fast. I never thought that it had to do with gender because I saw a pretty even mix across all of the races. I was always one to start out too slowly and have too much energy at the end, however most of my friends struggled with the opposite problem. Because of that, I really believe that it doesn't matter, men or women, I believe that it depends on the person. However, the studies have been done, so I should trust them.
Overall, it is always important when racing to know your strength. At the start of the race, when the gun goes off, it's okay to try to get out of there fast, but also try to settle into a rhythm. After about 400 meters you should lock in your pace for the race. It is always better to start out slower than what feels comfortable, because later in the race you will be glad that you did. Happy racing!

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