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New research suggests that regular marathon runners improve on their times as they approach their senior years.

A study of New York Marathon runners found that times consistently improved, even when the runners in question reached their 80s.

Researchers Romauld Lepers and Thomas Cattagni from the Université de Bourgogone studied the finishing times of marathon runners aged 20 - 80 over the last 30 years. Their results showed that the number of athletes over the age of 40 running the race had increased, rising from 36 to 53 per cent for men and 24 to 40 per cent for women.

Furthermore, the best male athletes over 65 and female athletes over 45 consistently improved their times race-on-race.

The results could encourage a growing number of older athletes to take up marathon running; perhaps signing up for gym membership to help with the training.

Men who registered a time of sub three hours 50 minutes saw 15 minutes shaved off their times, even between the ages of 65 - 69. Women between the ages of 55 - 59 meanwhile saw times of sub four hours 20 minutes decrease by 41 minutes over the 30 years.

Commenting on the results, Lepers suggested: "The improved performances can be explained by the increased number of participants in these age categories, as well as the increased interest this age population has in terms of the benefits of physical activity on health and wellbeing."