The Boston Marathon. Women were allowed to enter the Boston Marathon in 1972. The time (in minutes, rounded to the nearest minute) for each winning woman from 1972 to 2007 appears in Table 10.4.

(a) Make a graph of the winning times.

(b) Give a brief description of the pattern of Boston Marathon winning times over these years. Have times stopped improving in recent years?

TABLE 10.4 Women’s winning times (minutes) in the Boston Marathon Year Time Year Time Year Time 1972 190 1984 149 1996 147 1973 186 1985 154 1997 146 1974 167 1986 145 1998 143 1975 162 1987 146 1999 143 1976 167 1988 145 2000 146 1977 168 1989 144 2001 144 1978 165 1990 145 2002 141 1979 155 1991 144 2003 145 1980 154 1992 144 2004 144 1981 147 1993 145 2005 145 1982 150 1994 142 2006 144 1983 143 1995 145 2007 149 Source: See the Web site en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of winners of the Boston Marathon/.

216 CHAPTER 10 Graphs, Good and Bad EXPLORING THE WEB