It is recognised that regular physical activity and a high level of fitness are powerful predictors of positive health outcomes. There is a long and rich history of significant feats of human endurance with some, for example, the death of the first marathon runner, Pheidippides, associated with negative health outcomes. Early studies on endurance running used X-ray and interview techniques to e...

This study aimed to describe the acute impact of extended interval training (EIT) on physiological and thermoregulatory levels, as well as to determine the influence of athletic performance and age effect on the aforementioned response in endurance runners. Thirty-one experienced recreational male endurance runners voluntarily participated in this study. Subjects performed EIT on an outdoor run...

Online, accessible performance and heart rate data from running competitions are posted publicly or semi-publicly to social media. We tested the efficacy of one such data resource- Strava- as a tool in exercise physiology investigations by exploring heart rate differences in mountain racing and road racing running events. Heart rate and GPS pace data were gathered from Strava activities posted ...

We investigated the change of body composition in ultra- endurance runners during a multi-stage ultra-endurance run, the Isarrun 2006 in Bavaria, Germany, where athletes had to run 338 km within 5 days. Body mass, skin fold thicknesses and circumferences of extremities were measured in 21 well-experienced extreme endurance male runners (mean ± SD, 41.5 ± 6.9 years, 72.6 ± 6.4 kg, 178 ± 5 cm, BM...

Mountain endurance running has increased in popularity in recent years. Thus the aim of the present study was to determine if maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and energy cost of running (Cr) measured during level and uphill running are associated. Ten high level male endurance mountain runners performed three maximal oxygen uptake tests at three slope conditions (0, 12.5 and 25%). Metabolic data,...

Selected short distance runners, middle distance runners and long distance runners were subjected to graded exercise on a treadmill. The maximum aerobic power (VO2 max) and other indices related to oxygen transport system viz. heart rate, ventilation volume, breathing reserve, dyspnoeic index, O2 pulse and RQ were recorded at respective VO2 max work loads, and the values were compared. Long dis...

We determined whether ultra-runners in a multi-stage ultra- endurance run lose body mass, fat mass, skeletal muscle mass or total body water in a descriptive field study at the 'Deutschlandlauf' 2007 a 1,200 km run within 17 consecutive days with 10 male non-professional Caucasian ultra-runners (mean ± SD, 43.8 ± 6.2 years, 73.8 ± 6.0 kg body mass, 1.77 ± 0.05 m body height, BMI 23.3 ± 1.8 kg·m...

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of endurance training on heart rate (HR) recovery after exercise and cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation in female marathon runners by comparing with untrained controls. Six female marathon runners (M group) aged 32-40 years and eight age-matched untrained females (C group) performed a maximum-effort treadmill running exercis...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to compare the levels of serum immunoglobulin (IgA, IgM, IgG), testosterone and cortisol in semi-endurance elite runners during general preparation and competition phase of training. METHODS Thirteen semi-endurance elite male runners with an average age of 18.92±1.7 years volunteered to take part in this study. The runners participated in the selected trainin...

BACKGROUND Increases in coronary artery size and dilating capacity have been observed in some animals after endurance training, and at autopsy, active men appear to have enlarged epicardial coronary arteries. This cross-sectional study was designed to test the hypothesis that highly trained endurance runners have larger epicardial coronary arteries and greater dilating capacity than inactive me...