A large-scale analysis of Berlin Marathon finishers finds men are nearly twice as likely as women to "hit the wall," defined as a 20% pace drop in the second half, affecting about 18% of men and fewer than 10% of women.Researchers analyzed 873,334 finishers from 1999 to 2025 and report men average 4:02 while women average 4:29, concluding that men’s riskier early pacing, overconfidence and unstable pacing drive higher incidence despite physiological advantages.The paper published in
Scientific Reports recommends that men adopt more conservative early paces and that coaches emphasize pacing drills and decision-making training to reduce large second-half slowdowns.