Question

Marie was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, the "mile high" city. She has been a cross-country runner since grade school. When Marie went to college in Florida, her running ties improved immediately. What might explain this sudden improvement?

Answer 1

Marie was born and raised at higher altitude and was having good performance in of cross-country running. People living at higher altitude have more RBCs, higher lung capacity and higher amount of myoglobin in muscles. As she came in Florida (sea level), air pressure increased as compared to higher altitude, so partial pressure of oxygen also increased. Thus increasing saturation level of hemoglobin with oxygen. This resulted in sudden improvement in her performance.