999 men and 555 women participated in the open-for-all marathon race.
Josette arrived at 333rd place in the general count and at the 55th place among the women.

a. How many men did she leave behind her?
b. How many women?

There were 332 runners ahead of her, 54 of them women, so 332 - 54 = 278 men preceded her over the finish line. Since there were 999 men altogether, 999 - 278 = 721 men came in behind her (answer to part a).

As for the women (part b), the 54 women who came ahead of her and Josette herself account for 55 of the 555 women entered, leaving 500 to come in after her.

Posted by Charlie on 2013-12-23 12:37:42