## 3 Results  
### Analysis of Attendance  
The total number of athletes registered in the 13 VM editions between 2007 and 2019 (the year of the last edition before the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic) was 71,575 finishers, with 59,819 males (82.3%) and 12,656 females (17.7%).  
Figure 1a shows the numbers of participants in the 13 editions, with a significant increase (\(p<0.001\)) in the female participation, which increased from 14% in 2007 to 22.3% in 2019, and a non-significant decrease (\(p=0.132\)) in the number of men. The greatest number of female participants (n = 1270) was in the 2015 edition, with an increase of 70% in comparison to the 2007 edition; this year also had the greatest number of male participants in the 13 events analyzed.  
Figure 1: Distribution of participants in the 2007–2019 editions of the VM: (**a**) Total number of participants in each year from 2007 to 2019; males are represented in blue and females in pink; the percentage of female participants with respect to the total participants by year is reported in the pink bars. (**b**) Linear regression of female vs. male ratios by year (ratio-y F/M). The confidence interval is shaded in gray. Real data are plotted as points connected with dotted lines. (**c**) Total numbers ofparticipants by category; males in blue and females in pink; the percentage of female participants with respect to the total number of participants per year is reported in the pink bars. (**d**) Linear regression of female vs. male ratios by age category (ratio-c F/M); the dotted line shows the trend of the female vs. male ratio for each category. Real data are plotted as points connected with dotted lines. (**e**) Slope coefficients computed by linear regression on the number of participants of each age category and gender in the 13 editions of VM. M = male, F = female; \(p\)-values < 0.05 are considered statistically significant, and \(p\)-values < 0.001 are considered highly significant.  
The ratio (ratio-y F/M) between female and male participants by year, obtained as the number of female participants over the number of males, showed a linear and significant increase (Figure 1b), from a minimum value in 2007 (ratio-y = 0.16) to a maximum in 2019 (ratio-y = 0.29) (\(p<\) 0.001).  
Figure 1c shows the distribution of participants by age category over the 13 editions of VM. The numbers of male and female participants rose sharply at 40 years old and then showed a gradual decrease in the older categories. The 40- and 45-year age categories were the most numerous (representing 43% of males and 40% of females), followed by the 50-year age category (15% of males and 14% of females). The percentages were greatly reduced in the 60-year age category (4% of males and 2% of females), and participation was reduced even further in the older categories. The higher female vs. male ratio by category (ratio-c F/M) was most evident in the younger categories--the female vs. male ratio was almost constant in the ages between 35 and 50 years, and then there was a major decrease in the 55-year and older categories (Figure 1d).  
The analysis of the slope coefficients computed by linear regression on the mean participation by category in all 13 editions showed a significant reduction in male participants in the age categories from 30 to 40 years old (\(p<\) 0.0001 and \(p=\) 0.013, respectively) (Figure 1e), followed by an increase that started from 50 years old and became significant only in the 65- and 70-year age categories (\(p<\) 0.05). In women, there was a non-significant reduction in the 30- and 35-year age categories, followed by an increase that became significant from 45 to 65 years old (\(p<\) 0.05).