17 articles
A meta-analysis from Amsterdam brings together everything known about the heart in the first day after a marathon. Troponin and NT-proBNP rise in every study and on average cross clinical thresholds, the right ventricle dilates, yet MRI finds no signs of damage. We look at what this means and when to see a doctor.
A classic study of the Los Angeles Marathon found colds in 12.9% of finishers versus 2.2% of runners who did not race. A 2024 meta-analysis that adjusted for the length of follow-up whittled this down to +18%. We look at where the post-race sniffles come from and what actually lowers the risk.
A 2026 field study followed the “runner's high” across a whole marathon for the first time: 19 runners gave blood every 14 km, and another 36 ultrarunners before and after races of 100, 160 and 230 km. Anandamide rose all the way, anxiety fell — but after the ultras euphoria did not rise at all. And endorphins, it seems, have nothing to do with any of it.
On 6 September the Russian runner Rinas Akhmadeev dropped out of his marathon debut after reaching halfway in 1:04:08 — because of gut problems; by his own account, his fuelling did not sit well. Hydrogel is sold as the answer to exactly this problem. A 2026 systematic review pulled together nine RCTs: carbohydrate oxidation rises at high doses and the stomach sometimes copes better, but only one running study showed a clear performance gain.
Orthopaedic surgeons from Hokkaido University scanned the knees of 100 amateur runners before the start, right after the finish and on each of the next five days. The medial meniscus shifted outwards by an average of 0.44 mm, stayed there for three days and was back in place on the fourth. The shift was larger in runners who were heavier, ran more and loaded the inner side of the knee harder.
Boston refused to accept recalculated results, the organisers refused to refund entries. A look at the Jones counter, the mandatory one metre per kilometre of margin, and why your watch almost always shows more than 42.195.
The popular theory says super shoes stop helping over the final kilometres, once the calves give out. It was tested head-on — the ankle was fatigued by 6.5% of its power and economy was measured again. The advantage was unchanged.
adidas claims the Techfit Endurance Suit improves running economy by “more than 1%” — around 48 seconds over a two-hour marathon. The interesting part: the manufacturer does not say this is about airflow. Polyurethane tapes stabilise the pelvis.
The largest analysis of marathon splits sorted runners into four pacing types. Among those who ran evenly, a collapse in pace in the second half occurred in 0.2% of cases. Among those who ran erratically — in 85.4%. The gap in finish time between the extreme groups is almost an hour.
Marathon runners ran for 90 minutes and then repeated their lab tests. Peak oxygen uptake fell from 56.7 to 53.4, and speed at lactate threshold from 12.8 to 12.1 km/h. This is durability — the quality your testing protocol never measures.
Flying across time zones costs roughly one day of adaptation per zone travelling east — and half that going west. We unpack where the asymmetry comes from and how to plan your arrival around it.
A good taper adds an average of 2–3% to your race result. We break down what the research says and lay out a ready-made 3-week plan for the marathon and half marathon.
Scientists gathered 340 runners from 24 countries, each with a hundred marathons behind them. Their aerobic power declines with age noticeably slower than the norm. We break down what it means and where the catch is.
The 2026 meta-analyses confirmed it: on the road a carbon plate really does save 2–3% of energy. But all the science on “super shoes” is built on treadmills and steady pacing — and on trails and climbs there is simply no evidence of any benefit.
Two threshold sessions a day and a lactate meter in your pocket — we break down what in the “double threshold” is backed by science, what stayed pure hype, and how an amateur can try the method cautiously.
A fresh 2025 review explains why at marathons and ultras people end up in intensive care more often because of too much water, not dehydration — and how to avoid it.
Three world records in ultrarunning on a single day, historic NYC Marathon finish, doping scandal with world record holder, and ski season start in Russia. Top 20 news of the month.