Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2018 Pacing in a 94-year-old runner during a 6-hour run Knechtle, Beat ; Nikolaidis, Pantelis Theodoros Abstract: It is well known that elderly people up to 90 years of age are able to finish a marathon. We have no knowledge, however, how runners at the age of 90 years or older pace during a long run. In this case report, we describe the pacing of a 94-year-old man competing in a 6-hour run in order to prepare for a marathon at the age of 95 years in category M95. In the ”6-Stunden-Lauf ” held in Brugg, Switzerland, participants have to run as many laps of 0.934 km as possible on a completely flat circuit within 6 hours to achieve as many kilometers as possible. Before and after the competition we measured body weight, percentage of body fat, fat-free mass and percentage of body water using a bioelectrical impedance scale. On the day before the start, 24 hours after the finish and then every 24 hours for the following 4 days, capillary blood samples at a fingertip were drawn to determine hemoglobin, hematocrit, leukocytes, platelets, C-reactive protein, creatine kinase, creatinine and potassium and sodium. The runner achieved 26 laps during the 6 hours, equal to 24.304 km. Lap times increased continuously and running speed decreased nearly linearly. A large main effect of time point (hours) of the race on running speed was observed (=0.015, =0.48) with running speed being slower in the last hour than that in the first hour (3.5±1.4 km/h versus 5.3±0.4 km/h). Body mass decreased by 0.6%, percent body fatby1.4% and fat-free mass by 0.7%. During recovery, hemoglobin, hematocrit and the number of thrombocytes increased, whereas the number of leukocytes remained unchanged. C-reactive protein was highest on day 1 after the race and decreased by day 4 nearly to zero. Creatine kinase was slightly elevated pre-race, highest the day after the race and remained slightly elevated until day 4. Creatinine and potassium were increased pre-race but returned to normal values during recovery. Sodium remained within normal values on all days. Based on the linear decrease in running speed, we extrapolated for the marathon distance to run a marathon in age group M95 (i.e., male marathoners aged 95-99 years). In the worst-case scenario (i.e., the athlete develops maximal fatigue), he would stop the race before 40 km, in the best scenario (i.e., the athlete develops minimal fatigue), he would achieve an overall race time of 8.3 hours and in the most probable scenario (i.e., the athlete can continue in the same manner), the final race time will be longer than 11 hours. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S155526 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-152559 Journal Article Published Version The following work is licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0) License. Originally published at: Knechtle, Beat; Nikolaidis, Pantelis Theodoros (2018). Pacing in a 94-year-old runner during a 6-hour run. Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine, 9:19-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S155526 2 Journal name: Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine Article Designation: Case Report Year: 2018 Volume: 9 Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine Dovepress Running head verso: Knechtle and Nikolaidis Running head recto: Pacing open access to scientific and medical research DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S155526 Open Access Full Text Article CASE REPorT Pacing in a 94-year-old runner during a 6-hour run Beat Knechtle1,2 Abstract: It is well known that elderly people up to 90 years of age are able to finish a marathon. P antelis T Nikolaidis3 We have no knowledge, however, how runners at the age of 90 years or older pace during a long run. In this case report, we describe the pacing of a 94-year-old man competing in a 6-hour run 1Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, St. Gallen, Switzerland; 2Institute of in order to prepare for a marathon at the age of 95 years in category M95. In the “6-Stunden- Primary Care, University of Zurich, Lauf ” held in Brugg, Switzerland, participants have to run as many laps of 0.934 km as possible Zurich, Switzerland; 3Exercise on a completely flat circuit within 6 hours to achieve as many kilometers as possible. Before Physiology Laboratory, Nikaia, Greece and after the competition we measured body weight, percentage of body fat, fat-free mass and percentage of body water using a bioelectrical impedance scale. On the day before the start, 24 hours after the finish and then every 24 hours for the following 4 days, capillary blood samples at a fingertip were drawn to determine hemoglobin, hematocrit, leukocytes, platelets, C-reactive protein, creatine kinase, creatinine and potassium and sodium. The runner achieved 26 laps during the 6 hours, equal to 24.304 km. Lap times increased continuously and running speed decreased nearly linearly. A large main effect of time point (hours) of the race on running speed was observed (p=0.015, h2=0.48) with running speed being slower in the last hour than that in the first hour (3.5±1.4 km/h versus 5.3±0.4 km/h). Body mass decreased by 0.6%, percent body fat by 1.4% and fat-free mass by 0.7%. During recovery, hemoglobin, hematocrit and the number of thrombocytes increased, whereas the number of leukocytes remained unchanged. C-reactive protein was highest on day 1 after the race and decreased by day 4 nearly to zero. Creatine kinase was slightly elevated pre-race, highest the day after the race and remained slightly elevated until day 4. Creatinine and potassium were increased pre-race but returned to normal values during recovery. Sodium remained within normal values on all days. Based on the linear decrease in running speed, we extrapolated for the marathon distance to run a marathon in age group M95 (i.e., male marathoners aged 95–99 years). In the worst-case scenario (i.e., the athlete develops maximal fatigue), he would stop the race before 40 km, in the best scenario (i.e., the athlete develops minimal fatigue), he would achieve an overall race time of ~8.3 hours and in the most probable scenario (i.e., the athlete can continue in the same manner), the final race time will be longer than 11 hours. Keywords: master athlete, elderly, endurance, performance, running Introduction Correspondence: Beat Knechtle Master athletes (i.e., athletes older than 35 years) are continuously extending their Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, 1 Vadianstrasse 26, St. Gallen 9001, limits in athletic performance. It is well known that more and more elderly people Switzerland older than 75 years are able to run marathons.2–4 In case reports5–7 and analyses from Tel +41 71 226 93 00 3,8 9 Fax +41 71 226 93 01 marathon races or World Championships, it has been reported that athletes of over Email [email protected] 80 years or even over 90 years are able to finish a marathon. The world record in age submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine 2018:9 19–25 19 Dovepress © 2018 Knechtle and Nikolaidis. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms. php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S155526 you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). Knechtle and Nikolaidis Dovepress group M85 was set by the Canadian Ed Whitlock on October many kilometers as possible in a long training session. His 12, 2016, in Toronto, Canada, in a time of 03:56:38 h:min:s. training in the pre-race preparation consisted of daily running The world record in age group M90 in marathon running was his usual lap during about 1 hour. set on March 6, 2005, in Los Angeles by the US-American Ernest Van Leeuwen in a time of 06:46:34 h:min:s.10 To date, The race no official world record in age group M95 has been set and On September 24, 2017, the start of the “6-Stunden-Lauf ” accepted by World Master Athletics. in Brugg, Switzerland, was held.20 The course is located in An important aspect in endurance sports such as running Schacheninsel in Brugg. It is a completely flat circuit of is pacing. Pacing describes the tactical behavior of an athlete 0.934 km where athletes have to run as many laps as possible during a competition.11 Pacing in running has been studied so within the time limit. With an electronic chip at the ankle, far for elite athletes over different distances such as a half- each lap is measured by an official timekeeping company.