Prediction of Mountain Marathon Performance with Anaerobic Capacity

Abstract

PURPOSEAnaerobic capacity, aerobic capacity and morphology were assessed for their potential effects on race performance during a 50 km mountain ultra‐marathon.HYPOTHESISIt was hypothesized that anaerobic and aerobic capacities would be the best predictors of finishing times in this ultra‐marathon.METHODSTen healthy males were recruited to participate in this study. Their average height was 1.76±0.09 m, body mass was 70.75±8.04 kg, Body Mass Index was 22.9±1.85 kg·m−2, body fat percentage was 21.98±4.75 %, and age was 47.6±11.0 years. The office of research ethics at SFU approved the study and each volunteer gave a signed consent prior to participation. Each volunteer's anaerobic capacity was evaluated using a Wingate test on a seated cycle ergometer and aerobic capacity was assessed by indirect calorimetry with a breath‐by‐breath metabolic cart during an incremental test from rest to the point of exhaustion on a treadmill. Predictions of race finishing times were assessed using both stepwise multiple linear regression as well as ANCOVA with body mass as the covariate. The independent variables included mean power, peak power, minimum power, time to peak power, time to fatigue, body fat percentage, body mass, lean body mass and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2MAX).RESULTSDuring the Wingate test mean power was 531.70±88.92 W, peak power was 854.30±193.97 W, time to peak power was 3.25±2.44 s and rate to fatigue was 18.01±4.93 s. During the incremental treadmill test VO2MAX_ABS was 4.01±0.65 L·min−1 and VO2MAX_REL was56.70±6.24 L·min−1·kg body mass−1. The stepwise multiple linear regression indicated that peak power (R2=0.59, p<0.05) or residuals from peak power plotted as a function of body mass (R2=0.54, p<0.05) were significant predictors of race performance in this mountain marathon.CONCLUSIONThese preliminary results support that in a mountain ultra‐marathon a significant fraction of the variance in performance is predicted by peak power as determined in a Wingate anaerobic test.Support or Funding InformationSupported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI)