mentioned extracerebral sources, especially under the heavy strain of a marathon race, seem to us a more probable source for CK-BB activity in marathon runners after a race. This also tallies with the observation of Phillips et al. that none of the runners demonstrated any neurological abnormalities after the race. Furthermore, most of the runners also revealed increased heart-type isoenzyme (C...

Objectives: This research aimed to shed light on the relationship between flow experience and perfor mance in sports using a marathon race as an example. We hypothesized that flow influences the marathon race performance by an indirect rewarding effect. We assumed that the positive quality of flow experience rewards the pre race running activity and thereby enhances training behavior which agai...

The aims of this study were to establish and validate various predictive equations of half-marathon performance. Seventyeight half-marathon male runners participated in two different phases. Phase 1 (n = 48) was used to establish the equations for estimating half-marathon performance, and Phase 2 (n = 30) to validate these equations. Apart from half-marathon performance, training-related and an...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of strenuous exercise on commonly used biochemical and haematological variables in subjects running the 2002 London marathon. METHODS 34 healthy volunteers (7 female, 27 male) were recruited for the study. Blood was taken before the start (at registration) and immediately after completion of the marathon. Samples were analysed for urea and electrolytes, l...

Heavy exercise is associated with an increased risk of upper respiratory tract infections. Strenuous exercise also causes gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. In previous studies probiotics have reduced respiratory tract infections and GI symptoms in general populations including children, adults, and the elderly. These questions have not been studied in athletes before. The purpose of this study wa...

This was a placebo-controlled, double-blind study designed to evaluate the effect of a commercially available dietary supplement on upper-respiratory tract symptoms (URTI) and mood state. Seventy-five marathon runners (35 men, 40 women) ranging in age from 18-53 years, mean age: 36 ± 9, self-administered placebo, 250 mg or 500 mg of BETA 1,3/1,6 GLUCAN (commercial name Wellmune WGP(®)) daily du...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of short-term supplementation of amino acids before and during a 100 km ultra-marathon on variables of skeletal muscle damage and muscle soreness. We hypothesized that the supplementation of amino acids before and during an ultra-marathon would lead to a reduction in the variables of skeletal muscle damage, a decrease in muscle ...

A key challenge to optimising marathon running performance is to train with adequate frequency, duration and intensity as well as get enough recovery to optimise biological adaptations underlying performance. Some marathon runners train inadequately and underperform, while others perform poorly because they become injured or develop staleness in response to overtraining. Staleness, a depression...