Because it takes women longer to finish races than men, would this make races more difficult for them? For example, the men's winner of the Houston Half Marathon ran 60:01, whereas the women's winner ran 67:25. The woman had to stay focused and endure the pain of the race for 7:24 longer than the man did, which would be both mentally and physically taxing. Or does it even out because at any moment in a race, a woman is feeling less pain than a man, who is at a higher pain and fatigue level because they have less time they have to be running?
Does this make sense? This could also apply to just slower people in general. Is it easier for a 14:00 5k runner running all out or a 16:00 5k runner running all out?