Participation and performance trends in 100-km ultra-marathons worldwide

Abstract

The aims of the present study were to (1) investigate the participation trends for the origin of athletes competing in 100-km ultra-marathons and (2) determine the nationalities of athletes achieving the fastest 100-km race times worldwide. Race times and nationality from 112,283 athletes (15,204 women and 97,079 men) from 102 countries who completed a 100-km ultra-marathon worldwide between 1998 and 2011 were investigated using single-and multi-level regression analyses. The number of finishers increased exponentially, both for women and men. Most of the finishers (73.5%) were from Europe, in particular, France (30.4%). The number of finishers from Japan, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United States of America increased exponentially during the studied period. For women, runners from Canada became slower while those from Italy became faster over time. For men, runners from Belgium, Canada and Japan became slower. Between 1998 and 2011, the ten best race times were achieved by Japanese runners for both women with 457.1 (s = 28.8) min and men with 393.4 (s = 9.6) min. To summarise, most of the finishers in 100-km ultra-marathons originated from Europe, but the best performances belong to Japanese runners. Although East African runners dominate running up to a marathon, Japanese were the best in 100 km.

Participation and performance trends in 161km ultra-marathons in terms of nationality – a retrospective data analysis of worldwide participation from 1998-2011

“…This is not surprising since Europe is known for its flair for ultra-endurance events as they were leading in terms of participation in ultra-endurance disciplines such as 100km ultra-marathons (Cejka et al, 2013), multistage ultra-marathons (Shoak et al, 2013a) and in terms of participation and performance in 12-hour ultra-marathons (Sehovic et al, 2013), in 6-hour ultramarathons (Ehrensperger et al, 2013) as well as in ultra-triathlons . Furthermore, it is desirable to stay in the home country when deciding to participate in the first 161km ultra-marathon: "There is nothing worse than training for a race that is a few thousand miles from home, then showing up and laying an egg.…”

“…This is an interesting finding since Japanese athletes were dominating in terms of participation, and Japanese women in terms of participation and performance in the 'Spartathlon', an ultra-marathon held in Europe over a distance of 246 km . Furthermore, Japanese athletes were dominating in terms of performance in 100km ultra-marathons worldwide (Cejka et al, 2013). However, in 161km ultramarathons, only 162 finisher originated from Japan although the annual number of finishers from Japan increased from 14 (2010) …”

“…Previous studies reported an increase in popularity of ultra-endurance events such as swimming (Eichenberger et Regarding ultra-marathoners, a recent study demonstrated that European athletes, especially from France, were dominating 100km ultra-marathons in terms of participation, although the best performances belonged to Japanese athletes (Cejka et al, 2013). Shoak et al (2013a) showed that 81.9% of all athletes participating in multi-stage ultra-marathons originated from Europe, most of them were from France.…”

Ultramarathon Running: Medical Issues

“…An increased fluid intake during ultra-marathon running might also have negative effects on the feet since recent studies showed an association between fluid intake and limb swellings [71,72]. Fluid intake was related to the changes in limb volumes, where athletes with an increased fluid intake developed an increase in limb volumes [71].…”

“…Fluid intake was related to the changes in limb volumes, where athletes with an increased fluid intake developed an increase in limb volumes [71]. An increase in feet volume after a 100-km ultra-marathon was due to an increased fluid intake [72].…”