HEALTH PROFILE AND TRAINING HABITS OF 42K MARATHONERS, TEMUCO CHILE

participation of runners in marathons increases each year, making them an attractive population to investigate. In Chile, the characteristics of marathoners in decentralized and emerging races, such as the Temuco Araucanía International Marathon (MITA), are not yet known.

Objective:

to describe health profile, sociodemographic characteristics, and training habits of the 42K runners enrolled in MITA during the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Methods:

Non-probabilistic convenience sample composed of people over 18 years of age, who signed informed consent. The data were obtained through a survey prepared by the authors, and were analyzed with the statistical program Stata 16.0 to describe the group based on the variables of health profile, sociodemographic characteristics and training habits.

Results:

135 adult marathoners were included (n=42-2017, n=45-2018, n=48-2019). The mean age was 39.5±9.1 years and 86.6% were men. Fifteen percent self-reported comorbidities, 96.7% were non-smokers, 80% were normal weight, 65% had a high educational level and 87% were workers. Regarding training habits, it is noteworthy that the frequency was 4.9±1 days per week, with a mean duration of 89±1 minutes per session. Finally, 71.9% of the sample reported doing high intensity training.

Conclusions:

the MITA 42K runners are generally healthy subjects, nonsmokers and without comorbidities; mostly men, normal weight, middle age, with a high educational level and workers. They present a high frequency of weekly training, with an average duration of 90 minutes per session, this being carried out at high intensity by almost 2/3 of the sample. Knowledge of the health profile and training habits of runners is a first step to responsibly generate guidelines that contribute to strengthening the safe practice of this sport. Level of Evidence IV; Descriptive and Cross-Sectional Study.

Keywords:
Marathon Running; Sociodemographic Factors; Sports; Global Health

Health history		MITA 2017 (n=42)			MITA 2018 (n=45)			MITA 2019 (n=48)
Health history		Women (21,4%)	Men (78,6%)	Valor p	Women (4,4%)	Men (95,6%)	Valor p	Women (14,6%)	Men (85,4%)	P value
Body weigth (kg)^ mean (SD)		53,4 (6,0)	68,9 (9,0)	0,003	59,0 (2,8)	68,5 (9,7)	0,174	56,6 (7,4)	69,7 (8,2)	0,001
Size (mt)^ mean (SD)		1,60 (0,01)	1,71 (0,01)	0,003	1,65 (0,07)	1,71 (0,01)	0,253	1,59 (0,05)	1,72 (0,07)	0,001
Body mass index (kg/m²)^ mean (SD)		20,9 (1,7)	23,5 (2,4)	0,004	21,9 (1,4)	23,2 (2,3)	0,405	22,3 (2,1)	23,7 (2,6)	0,180
Nutritional Condition^* * n(%)	Underweight	1 (11,1)	0 (0,0)	0,577^⊢ ⊢ Wilcoxon Trend Test.	0 (0,0)	1 (2,3)	0,442 ^⊢ ⊢ Wilcoxon Trend Test.	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)	0,396 ^⊢ ⊢ Wilcoxon Trend Test.
	Normalweight	8 (88,9)	21 (67,7)		2 (100,0)	30 (69,8)		6 (85,7)	29 (70,7)
	Overweight	0 (0,0)	10 (32,3)		0 (0,0)	12 (27,9)		1 (14,3)	10 (24,4)
	Obesity	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	2 (4,9)
Disability^* * n(%)		^- (-) Measurement not recorded.	^- (-) Measurement not recorded.		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		1 (14,3)	1 (2,4)
Hypertension^* * n(%)		^- (-) Measurement not recorded.	^- (-) Measurement not recorded.		1 (50,0)	1 (2,6)		0 (0,0)	5 (13,2)
Diabetes mellitus type 2^* * n(%)		^- (-) Measurement not recorded.	^- (-) Measurement not recorded.		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	1 (2,6)
High cholesterol^* * n(%)		^- (-) Measurement not recorded.	^- (-) Measurement not recorded.		0 (0,0)	2 (5,1)		0 (0,0)	5 (12,8)
Current smoking^* * n(%)		^- (-) Measurement not recorded.	^- (-) Measurement not recorded.		0 (0,0)	2 (4,8)		0 (0,0)	1 (2,5)

Sociodemographic Characteristics		MITA 2017			MITA 2018			MITA 2019
Sociodemographic Characteristics		Women	Men	p value	Women	Men	p value	Women	Men	p value
Surveyed n (%)		9 (21,4)	33 (78,6)	--	2 (4,4)	43 (95,6)	--	7 (14,6)	41 (85,4)	--
Age in years mean (SD)		38,4 (10,5)	42,8 (13,3)	0,322	38,0 (6,0)	38,3 (1,6)	0,971	38,6(10,8)	38,7(9,6)	0,971
^⊢ ⊢ n(%) percentage, SDE=Standard Deviation. Age groups in years	18 - 28	1 (11,1)	3 (9,1)	^* * p value<0,05 0,015	0 (0,0)	6 (14,6)	0,999	1 (14,3)	3 (7,7)	0,626
	29 - 38	3 (33,3)	15 (45,5)		1 (50,0)	18 (43,9)		4 (57,1)	16 (41,0)
	39 - 48	0 (0,0)	11 (33,3)		1 (50,0)	13 (31,7)		0 (0,0)	14 (35,9)
	49 - 58	4 (44,4)	3 (9,1)		0 (0,0)	2 (4,9)		2 (28,6)	5 (12,8)
	59 - 68	0 (0,0)	1 (3,0)		0 (0,0)	2 (4,9)		0 (0,0)	1 (2,6)
	69 y más	1 (11,1)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)
^⊢ ⊢ n(%) percentage, SDE=Standard Deviation. Nacionality	Chilean	7 (77,8)	33 (100,0)	0,042	2 (100,0)	43 (100,0)	--	7 (100,0)	38 (97,4)	0,999
	Argentinian	1 (11,1)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)
	Kenyan	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	1 (2,6)
	USA	1 (11,1)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)
^⊢ ⊢ n(%) percentage, SDE=Standard Deviation. Educational level (years)	< 8	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)	0,405	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)	0,44	0 (0,0)	3 (7,3)	0,290
	8 y 12	1 (12,5)	10 (31,3)		0 (0,0)	15 (34,9)		2 (33,3)	10 (24,4)
	≥ 13	7 (87,5)	22 (68,8)		2 (100,0)	28 (65,1)		4 (66,7)	28 (68,3)
Occupation n (%)	Professional	3 (37,5)	10 (32,3)	0,965	1 (50,0)	15 (35,7)	0,999	0 (0,0)	13 (40,6)	0,099
	Technical	3 (37,5)	13 (41,9)		0 (0,0)	10 (23,8)		4 (66,7)	12 (37,5)
	Non-professional trades	1 (12,5)	4 (12,9)		1 (50,0)	13 (31,0)		2 (33,3)	4 (12,5)
	Unemployed	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	1 (3,1)
	Pensioner	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)
	Student	1 (12,5)	2 (6,5)		0 (0,0)	2 (4,8)		0 (0,0)	1 (3,1)
	Armed forces and order	0 (0,0)	2 (6,5)		0 (0,0)	1 (2,4)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)
	Artists	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	1 (2,4)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)
	Athletes	0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	0 (0,0)		0 (0,0)	1 (3,1)

Sports and training habits	MITA 2017			MITA 2018			MITA 2019
Sports and training habits	Women	Men	p value	Women	Men	p value	Women	Men	p value
Sports oriented medical examination n (%)	9 (100,0)	18 (60,0)	0,29	1 (50,0)	27 (65,9)	0,581	4 (66,7)	27 (67,5)	0,649
Regular training start age mean (SD)	29,4 (15,4)	28,4 (12,7)		31,5(2,1)	23,5(11,3)	0,333	29,2 (6,6)	23,7 (8,3)	0,136
Training frequency (days/week) mean (SD)	5,2 (1,9)	5,2 (1,8)	0,54	4,5(0,71)	4,56 (1,52)	0,64	5,1 (0,7)	4,8 (1,3)	0,441
Training duration (minutes/session) mean (SD)	100,0 (29,8)	113,0 (38,6)	0,24	75 (21.21)	90,2 (35,69)	0,56	72,1 (15,8)	84 (36,7)	0,408
High intensity training frequency n (%)	9 (100,0)	28 (84,8)	0,28	0 (0,0)	31 (73,8)		6 (85,7)	35 (87,5)
Other sport n (%)	2 (22,2)	13 (41,9)	0,25	1 (50,0)	18 (42,9)	0,68	4 (57,1)	19 (47,5)	0,701
Sports Club membership n (%)	7 (77,8)	18 (56,3)	0,22	0 (0,0)	22 (53,7)	0,23	6 (85,7)	23 (60,5)	0,393

Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina do Exercício e do Esporte Av. Brigadeiro Luís Antônio, 278, 6º and., 01318-901 São Paulo SP, Tel.: +55 11 3106-7544, Fax: +55 11 3106-8611 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: atharbme@uol.com.br

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[1] Correspondence: Chahin-Inostroza Natalia, Universidad Mayor, School of Medicine and Health Sciences. 281, Alemania Ave, Temuco, Chile. 4801043. natalia.chahin@umayor.cl