Abstract

Objective: As a subanalysis of an echocardiographic study performed on 291 Japanese participants in a 100 km ultramarathon, to estimate predictors of race time.

Methods: A total of 247 male participants in a 100 km ultramarathon (age 20–73 years) were examined by echocardiography. Correlations between age, body surface area, monthly running distance, or echocardiographic variables and the race time were examined.

Results: According to simple regression analysis, age (r  =  0.299, p<0.0001), monthly running distance (r  =  −0.388, p<0.0001), left ventricular end diastolic diameter (r  =  −0.300, p<0.0001), and left ventricular end systolic diameter (r  =  −0.325, p<0.0001) correlated significantly with the race time. When multiple regression analysis was performed, age (f  =  2.364), monthly running distance (f  =  −0.113), and left ventricular end systolic diameter (f  =  −2.361) remained significant predictors of the race time.

Conclusion: Left ventricular diameter predicts the race time for a 100 km ultramarathon, in addition to age and amount of training.