Marathon running was associated with pain in 99.8% of recreational runners, with an average intensity of 5.26 on a 0-10 scale, typically beginning around 25.3 kilometers into the race.
Cross-Sectional (n=1,251)
Almost all recreational marathon runners experience moderate to very strong pain during a marathon, which is independent of biological sex and weakly associated with training pain and race experience.
This cross-sectional study aimed to obtain fundamental knowledge about pain during a marathon run. During the first seven months of 2007, announcements on websites of interest to marathon runners were used to recruit participants. A total of 1,251 runners (550 female runners) completed a 41-question online survey about the location and intensity of their primary pain during their last marathon and potentially related variables perception of effort during the marathon, number of prior marathons run, typical pain intensity during training runs, percentage of training days with run-induced pain, highest intensity pain ever experienced. Pain location was selected from a list of 27 specified body sites covering the entire body. Kilometer at which pain first occurred indexed pain threshold. Pain intensity at the primary location of pain was measured with a standardized, well-validated 0–10 pain intensity scale. Pearson correlations and multiple regression quantified the associations between average pain intensity and other variables. Sex-related differences in pain were tested using independent t -tests. Effort ratings (6–20) were added as a covariate in an ANCOVA to test if perceived effort accounted for possible sex-related differences in pain. Based on the available research, it was hypothesized that: (i) most runners would report moderate intensity pain, (ii) pain would be associated with both exercise intensity during the marathon and pain during training, and (iii) after adjusting for expected sex-related differences in perceived effort, females would experience pain earlier and rate the pain intensity as higher. All but two runners (99.8%) reported pain during a marathon, and most frequently in the anterior/medial thigh (17.1%), hamstring (10%), and calf (9.3%) locations. Pain threshold occurred at 25.3 ± 9.8 km (15.7 ± 6.1 miles) and the overall pain intensity of the run was 5.26 ± 2.45. No sex-related pain differences were found. Overall pain intensity during a marathon was significantly associated with: pain intensity during training runs ( r = 0.39), percentage of training days with run-induced pain ( r = 0.23), highest intensity pain ever experienced ( r = 0.23), number of prior marathons ( r = −0.18), and intensity of effort (r = 0.11) (all P 0.001). Most runners experience moderate to very strong intensity pain during a marathon; the pain was independent of biological sex, and the pain is weakly associated with marathon race experience, pain during training, race effort, and the highest intensity of pain ever experienced.
Patrick J. O’Connor (Wed,) conducted a cross-sectional in Pain during marathon running (n=1,251). Marathon running was evaluated on Prevalence of pain during a marathon run. Marathon running was associated with pain in 99.8% of recreational runners, with an average intensity of 5.26 on a 0-10 scale, typically beginning around 25.3 kilometers into the race.