ULTRAMARATHON SUCCESS IS REFLECTED IN TRAINING EXPERIENCES

Baldea, J. D., Khodaee, M., Poddar, S. K., Hill, J. C., & Johnson, J. (2009). Training patterns, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication use, and effects on high-altitude ultramarathon performance. ACSM 56th Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, Presentation Number 703.

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The Leadville Trail 100 is a 100 mile (160.9 km) ultramarathon in Leadville, Colorado. The course ranges in altitude from 9,200 ft to 12,600 ft. This study determined the training patterns of the event's participants, estimated usage of NSAID's, and compared surveyed variables to race performance. An anonymous, self-administered survey was distributed to all runners during registration the day before the race. Major variables included age, gender, training programs, frequency and duration of training, length of the longest training run in miles, use of NSAID's, altitude of residence, training over the past six months, arrival time in Leadville, prior race completion, and goal finishing time.

351/444 (79.1%) responded to the survey. Average age was 43.3 years (range 21-71). Males comprised 82.1% of Ss. Average training altitude was 4,997.6 feet. Ss trained an average of 5.2 days per week, and the average longest training run was 51 miles. Ss received training recommendations from numerous sources, but 51.7% trained based on personal experience. NSAID's were used before and/or during the race by 39.7% of Ss. There was no statistically significant correlation between age, gender, time of arrival at event location, duration of training, altitude of training, or medication use, and actual race finishing time. There were statistically significant relationships between altitude of residence, finishing goal, length of longest training run, frequency of training per week and finishing time.

Implication. In this high altitude ultra-endurance event, the altitude of the participants’ residence, finishing goal, length of their longest training run, and frequency of training correlated with a better finishing time in the race.

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