Comrades marathon - some really fascinating questions

Every once in a while, we get some absolute pearls from visitors to the blog. And this email, which we recieved yesterday evening, is an example of one. I will paraphrase Mr Alan Sleath's questions, which we at The Science of Sport will attempt to address over the next while.

Alan's questions were the following:

1) At the Comrades Marathon this year, the following performances stood out:

• A 70-year old man, Calie Beneke, ran 8 hours 4 minutes for the 89 km!
• Leonid Shvetsov of Russia broke the course record by running 5 hours 21 minutes!
• A british double-amputee, Richard Whitehead, ran sub-10 hours on prosthetic limbs!

Alan has asked us to rank these performances, based on physiology! Ouch! Can we take the 5th amendment on that one? But we'll do our best, it's an interesting challenge.

2) Second question, Alan has asked us to compare the achievement of breaking 6 hours (which I think about 17 runners did this year), with the achievement of winning 25 consecutive silver medals in the Comrades. Again, tough one, but we're up for anything here!

So over the next week, we'll do our best to cover these interesting cases. At this early stage, I am going to find myself a nice seat on the fence, from where I can hedge my bets really nicely!

The reality is that ranking the performances is probably going to be impossible, because they are so different. But what we will do is look at the unique physiology that allows each of them to happen, because each is quite remarkable, though for different reasons.

By next week this time, we'll have looked at each case, please forgive us for some delays, but sometimes the demands of work keep us from the interesting questions!

See you soon!
Ross and Jonathan

P.S. Andrew once asked about supplements - I haven't forgotten, I'm just busy looking up some information and waiting for it to arrive, so that I can do the job right.

The Comrades they don't show on TV, and the science behind it

Today is our final look at the behind the scenes of the Comrades marathon, and as promised, we'll have a look at some of the human interest stories and the science behind Comrades training. This is probably a bit late for many, but hopefully it'll be interesting and stimulate some decent training for the next down run (bring on 2009!)

So as i said, I spent just about the entire day in the medical tent, but was lucky enough to have to go out to the finish area to try to identify and recruit the runners for our research study. Our medical passes got us into the final finish chute, where the runners receive their medals and then grab a Coke or Energade or leave for home/hotels. I'm sure TV shows this just as well, but the attrition in that finish chute is something to behold. Quote of the day comes from one of our Austrian cardiologist colleagues, who had never seen anything quite like this "Zis race is more the survival, no? People are training for 4 hours a week, zis is impossible in Austria!" He couldn't believe the number of people who do the race without what he would have considered decent training.

You see, part of our research was to measure how much people train - time, distance and speed. So he interviewed all the runners in our study, and was blown away by what he perceived to the minimal training that is done. All his experience is on triathletes and marathon runners and he says that in Austria, people don't even consider a marathon until they are able to do about 12 hours a week of training! Welcome to South Africa!

Which brings us to the essence of Comrades - it's a culture, more than a road race. A battle for survival, absolutely, and I would be fascinated to know just what makes the typical guy run the race. I have three examples of people I met during the course of the day who illustrate more than anything what I mean.

The first is a runner from England, experienced marathon runner, with a fast 2:36 to his credit. He finished the race in 7:09, one of the faster runners. But I kid you not, there is a walk of about 200 m from the finish line to the medical tent where we were stationed. We started walking at 13h04 and arrived, 200 m later, at 13h29 - 25 minutes to walk 200 m. And every time he took a step, he groaned, mutter unprintables under his breath, and then soldiered on. Fifteen minutes earlier, he was running at 5 minutes per km to get his silver medal. Absolutely remarkable how his brain just shut everything down the moment the goal had been achieved! And if you thought a wounded "Comrade" would get some sympathy along the way - think again, people chuckled the whole way there!

The second was a guy who finished in about 10 hours. He came to the medical tent for treatment though, because he had severe cramp in just about every muscle - in fact, he was bandaged up around both quads and both calves! I ask him how the race was and he says it went according to plan. I say it looks as though he had a tough day, and his reply is that this happens every year! He has run 8 Comrades and EVERY single year, he ends up in the medical tent with massive cramps! He says he'll be back for sure next year! Imagine standing on the start line knowing with almost 100% certainty that in about 10 hours, you won't be able to stand properly and you'll end up in a medical tent in complete agony - that's a Comrades runner.

Finally, met a guy who got to Drummond in 4:10, on course to run well under 9 hours and claim a Bill Rowan medal. But then the wheels came off and the second half to 7:30 and he finished just under the overall cutoff! It was only his second run over 21 km - he qualified on Loskop and then ran Comrades! Only in SA! But what an amazing guy, tremendously positive and optimistic, disappointed of course, but seemed ready to go again soon after leaving. I'm sure he'll be back. He too was the epitome of a Comrades runner - they all finish in some pain, very few tell you they had a good run, and many swear never to come back, yet they all do, year after year, for more of the same.

Now our international visitors probably wonder what the fuss is about, and why on earth anyone would do that to themselves, never mind once, but repeatedly. And I don't know the answer to that - I'm told it's a culture, and it certainly is. People plan their year around this race, and everything goes into the first 6 months of the year and preparing.

And since it's so important, perhaps we can look at the training and just what might be done to prevent the pain that so many experience. I'm sure you can all pick up the common thread is that people who finish the down run can barely walk. Running 90 km does that to you! But running 90km downhill is a real killer!

The reason is that when we run down hill, the muscle has to work very hard to DECELERATE us, and it actually involves a different type of muscle contraction. It's called eccentric, and the muscle actually lengthens when it contracts (confusing name, huh?). A normal muscle contract, when you pick up a weight or walk up a flight of stairs, for example, is called concentric. The problem with an eccentric contraction is that the muscle gets very tiny tears and these are the source of all the pain and the 25 minute 200 m walking times! Because the muscle swells up, and the nerves become very sensitive as the body tries to fix the damage and the end result is major pain. Forget about lactate - people may have told you or you may have read that the reason your muscles get sore is because of lactate - absolutely untrue. Lactate is gone within 30 minutes of finishing the race, but the pain can last for days. The real cause of the pain is the body's response to tiny tears in the muscle, and these are worse after running downhill.

So what do you do about it? My theory, borne out by science, is that practice makes perfect. You have to teach the muscle how to work eccentrically and this means training very specifically. You have to run downhill often and work out in the gym often. People do this - they hit the gym with passion, but I feel that they focus on the wrong part of the contraction - it's the lowering of the weight, not lifting it that is important, because lowering is the eccentric contraction. So that's the first point - plenty of lowering of weights in the gym.

As for downhill running, it helps, but can obviously be overdone. Everything in moderation, but in my opinion, it's the technique that is most important in running downhill. When you run downhill, what you need to do is lower your hips, so that you land on bended knee and softly, to absorb the impact with some cushioning. Also, don't lean backwards, this can be very risky, because it loads the leg with the whole body weight coming down. So people need to practice running downhill before a race like Comrades.

How important is this downhill running? I think it's critical. If you look at the top 10 guys, the only one who came into the stadium with any bounce left is Shvetsov, and I have no doubt that he is the strongest runner in the race. The other 9 guys looked like they were running on brittle pieces of charcoal instead of legs - they had lost their ability to cushion the landing and then spring up completely. And that's a function of training. So if you want to avoid a 25 minute walk for 200 m, or cramp 8 years in a row, plan to learn how to run downhill - think eccentric, though not the type of eccentric that makes people run 90 km!

I hope you've found these Comrades posts interesting. They've certainly been fun to write, I hope as much to read.

In the coming weeks, the big events are the Tour de France, Knysna Marathon (for the SA runners), the America's Cup and the International Athletics season. As usual, we'll be trying to interpret and analyse as much as possible, and come up with some practical information that can help make you better at whatever sport it is you choose!

See you soon!
Ross

Comrades marathon - An interesting observation from a fellow blogger

The other day Andrew from Cape Town visited us for the first time, and dropped off some very kind and constructive comments. In a brief exchange between myself and Andrew, he dropped in this pearl from the Comrades broadcast on Sunday, which I think, more than any other, illustrates exactly the point I was making in my post on the race from Monday 18 June (check it out below).

"Thinking of Sipho Ngomane, while watching the race on Sunday, they had an interviewed with him, and a comment of his peaked my interest, “As soon as I’m out of my contract, I’ll focus on marathons.” Listening “between the lines” I could pick up he wasn’t that keen Comrades anymore." Quote from Andrew at the Comrades blog

If this quote from an elite runner doesn't tell you what the problems with SA road running are, then nothing will. Until such time that people like Nick Bester and the drivers of the ultra-marathon machine stop exploiting the athletic talent we have, we will not compete with the likes of Shvetsov at Comrades and any other runners over the marathon. Sipho Ngomane is a 25 year old runner, with a personal best at 21 km of just under 62 minutes (if my memory serves me), and he has now run 4 Comrades and 4 Two Oceans! What a shame!!!

And it's not only the managers and agents to blame - it's the authorities, who use their money so poorly that our talented runners are forced to the ultra distances too soon. When Nedbank sponsored ASA to the tune of R85 million, half that money should have gone into creating an elite racing league over 10 km and 5 km, so that runners with some talent were basically being paid not to run the ultras, at least until they were older. Then they'd hit Comrades with speed and experience, and the likes of Shvetsov and his comrades would know they were in a race!

Thanks to Andrew for that one - check out his blog at http://www.comradesblog.com/

Next time, we'll look at science behind the down run, and what single factor, more than any other (in my opinion), will predict how well you can perform, and how you should train.

Bye for now!
Ross

The Comrades - inside the medical tent

So Durban (and South Africa) woke up to the sad news this morning that two runners had died during yesterday's race. As I promised yesterday, today we'll have a look at what goes on behind the scenes, especially in the medical tent (since that's about all I saw of the race), and I suppose we should start with this sad event.

Both deaths happened at the finish line, the first was a 34-year old man who collapsed at some point during the final kilometer and was then carried to the finish line by other runners, as is the Comrades tradition. It makes for stirring television and high drama, befitting the race, but unfortunately, can lead to complications for the affected runners. In fact, we had a celebratory dinner after finishing in the tent and when our Austrian colleague, who is also a cardiologist, heard that runners had picked up and carried a man across the line, he was shocked and amazed to say the least, since it can worsen the problem, especially if carried vertically (it's better to be horizontal). That this is a tradition at Comrades was even more amazing to him, he was incredulous that they would be allowed to do this.

The second runner collapsed after finishing, and was tended to immediately by doctors, both on the line and in the tent. They in fact resuscitated him meters from where we were doing our testing, and he was taken to hospital, where he unfortunately passed away. So these two sad days spoiled an otherwise very good day for the medical team, with the Chief Medical Officer saying it was one of the quitest days in many years. I've worked in the tent the last three years and it certainly was not nearly as busy as in the past.

But what of these two deaths? One happened in a runner who had done 14 Comrades before, an experienced runner who was by no means unfit. The other was in a young man, also fit, since he ran under 11 hours before collapsing. So these events are reminders that anyone can be affected - be it by genetic abnormalities, perhaps flu, or some problem related to cholesterol or coronary artery disease. Of course, all of this doesn't help anything, and we must avoid playing the blame game - was it the lack of medical treatment, was it the other runners, was it the race organizers? It doesn't really matter right now, though lessons would need to be learned. My personal opinion is that runners should be educated, perhaps by a campaign before the race, to assess the situation a little more - if a runner has cramp, by all means pick him up, but if a runner is lying still and does not respond to talking, rather get medical help to him as quickly as possible. Perhaps in future years, this is the way to go.

As for the rest of the day's action in the medical tent, most people come in simply because they are exhausted, or have severe cramp, brought on by the steep downhills. Almost all just need to lie down for 30 minutes, rest up and then they are fine. There is a common problem of nausea, which is brought on by a number of factors, and then worsened by the fact that for 10 hours, most runners drink and eat nothing by jelly babies, Coke and Energade, which would be enough to make anyone feel ill! Blood pressure drops a lot as well and so the most effective treatment is simply to lie the runner down and raise his/her legs until the blood pressure normalizes.

What were we doing the medical tent? As mentioned, we worked with some Austrian scientists to look at how the cardiovascular system functions after the race. We tested 100 people at the expo on Friday and Saturday and then asked them to come back after the race. About 60 did, which was pretty good going, I think. We were measuring their cardiac output, which is the volume of blood pumped by the heart per minute and also the stroke volume, which is the amount pumped per contraction.

Very briefly, we found that in most people, the cardiac output and the stroke volume fall after the race, which is really very interesting, because their sympathetic nervous system (which is the body's fight or flight system) is hyperactivated. Normally, if the sympathetic system is active, the heart pumps more blood. But after Comrades, it pumps less, so that's a really interesting finding. We now have to think why that happens - there are a couple of possibilities, neither of which I'll get into now. But basically, you could think of it as a simple equation of supply and demand - the tissues, muscles and organs set the demand which is met by the cardiac output - the supply. So when the cardiac output is lower, it means that the demand is down, and that has all sorts of implications. Is the body in a mega-conservative state, where it tries to minimize demand by 'shutting off' blood to all parts of the body where it's not needed? A survival mechanism for 90 km perhaps? The next step will be to answer these questions.

So that's a bit of a technical post, tomorrow I'll post on a little more of the science that goes into preparing for Comrades and exactly what happens to the body during the race. I'll also try to paint a picture of what it's like at the finish area, to illustrate how the physiology responds to 90 km.

See you tomorrow!
Ross

Comrades marathon

The first ever Comrades held on the 17th of June has come and gone.

I was in the medical tent, for the third year running, doing a research study, and so missed much of the race (next year, maybe I'll watch it!). But it was once again a memorable race, though perhaps for different reasons. It's a race that will be recalled for many years, or at least until the incredible 5:20 performance of Leonid Shvetsov is erased from the record books. Some are already saying that the record will stand for up to 20 years (the previous one stood for 21), I suspect that there were signs that Shvetsov will only run faster next time we head from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

For one thing, he was not challenged over the final 30km, effectively running a time-trial in conditions that few would suggest were good for long distance running. Another factor, of course, is the temperature - it was a much warmer day than previous years. And then finally, the manner of his victor, and perhaps more importantly, the time differences between himself and second, and also other gaps within the top 10 suggest that today was NOT a good day for ultra running. No other man broke 5:30, and the tenth best time was a lot slower than in previous years. On a good day, Shvetsov can break 5:15 - watch this space for 2009, and remember, you read it here first!

But it once again re-inforces the importance of speed - Shvetsov is a man with a 2:10 marathon, a time that is quicker than just about any South Africans can run, let alone those whose focus is on the ultras. And that speed means that a halfway split of 2:43 is a comfortable pace, whereas those who have 2:20 in their legs are much closer to what one might call a "tempo pace", reducing the preservation time. So how do we compete with the Russians? Simple answer, less focus on marathons and ultras and more on speed, because until we produce a crop of 28 minute 10 km runners who can one day graduate to 2:10 marathons, we'll be chasing Eastern Europeans every June 17th!!

Tomorrow, I'll post about the "back end" of the race - the medical tent, the masses and the parts that people don't see on television. So check us out for some insight into what really happens in the Comrades marathon, what it takes to run 90 km on a hot day, and how these men and women survive and conquer a trip that most would only make in a car!

Ross