Moderate endurance exercise leads to an improvement in cardiovascular
performance, stress resilience, and blood function. However, the
influence of chronic endurance exercise over several hours or days is
still largely unclear. We examined the influence of a non-stop 160.9/230
km ultramarathon on body composition, stress/cardiac response, and
nutrition parameters. Blood samples were drawn before (pre) and after
the race (post) and analyzed for ghrelin, insulin, irisin, glucagon,
cortisol, kynurenine, neopterin, and total antioxidant capacity.
Additional measurements included heart function by echocardiography,
nutrition questionnaires, and body impedance analyses. Of the 28
included ultra-runners (7f/21m), 16 participants dropped out during the
race. The remaining 12 finishers (2f/10m) showed depletion of
antioxidative capacities and increased inflammation/stress
(neopterin/cortisol), while energy metabolism (insulin/glucagon/ghrelin)
remained unchanged despite a high negative energy balance. Free fat
mass, protein, and mineral content decreased and echocardiography
revealed a lower stroke volume, left end diastolic volume, and ejection
fraction post race. Optimizing nutrition (high-density protein-rich
diet) during the race may attenuate the observed catabolic and
inflammatory effects induced by ultramarathon running. As a rapidly
growing discipline, new strategies for health prevention and extensive
monitoring are needed to optimize the athletes’ performance.